May 24 2010
Students Choose Schools that Teach Injury Prevention!
In addition to blogging about injury prevention and self-care topics for students and therapists, we also want to talk about teaching these topics in massage school. So we’d like to invite massage instructors, education directors, school administrators, etc. to participate in this blog, too. Ideally, massage therapists and bodyworkers would develop good work practices, awareness of risk factors, good body mechanics and excellent self-care practices from the very start. That means from day one of their massage training. So talking about how these things are taught in school is really important.
There are lots of schools out there that are already incorporating effective injury prevention and self-care into their curriculum. But we do hear from lots of students and recent grads that their school did not give them enough information on this subject, and they feel quite disappointed by that. I think it’s important for schools to realize that prospective students are looking for schools that teach them not only how to do massage, but how to be successful as a massage therapist and have a career that lasts as long as they want it to. Students are investing a lot of money in their training, and they want the school to help them protect that investment. And a big part of being successful is being able to avoid symptoms and injury that can interfere with their career and their ability to make a living. Years ago, the fact that there is a high rate of injury among massage therapists wasn’t well-known – now, every magazine has articles about the importance of self-care and preventing injury (Rick and I write lots of them ourselves). So even people who are thinking about going to massage school know that this is important. So whether the school includes comprehensive information on injury prevention (going far beyond just using good body mechanics), or not, can make the difference between a student choosing that school, or not.
Given that fact, I would like to encourage schools not only to include comprehensive injury prevention information in their curriculum (and we’ll be talking more about how to do that in other posts – it’s easier than you may think), but to let prospective students know that they do. Put it in your promotional materials, on your web site – it’s a great value-add for your school, a wonderful benefit for your students – it really does give your school a competitive advantage! So advertise it proudly. If you let prospective students know that you care enough about their health and long-term success in their new career to provide this vital information, they WILL appreciate it, choose your school, and then recommend your school to others when they graduate. More to come!
