I’m very fortunate to have been invited to the 50th Anniversary of the MA Chapter of AMTA this coming weekend. I am so looking forward to seeing friends from far and wide their. I’m also on a mission to talk to the folks from the NCBTMB, who will be in attendance as well, about the forthcoming new Advanced Certification Exam (ACE).
I intend to take the exam myself. For one thing, I’ve talked a lot about it on this and my other blogs, and I think I ought to take it for that reason if nothing else…I always like to know what I’m talking about! For another, I want to see if I’ve learned anything in the decade + since I graduated from massage school. I’ve attended my share of continuing education, taught a lot of classes, written numerous articles and a couple of books, so I want to see if anything I have learned has stuck with me or if it’s flown right out of my middle-aged brain.
I took a little poll on Facebook to ask how many intended to take it and I’d like to do the same here. Do you intend to go for the Advanced Certification? Do you think a general exam of that type is going to serve you, or are you holding out for a modality-specific exam? That’s something that I expect will be coming in the not-too-distant future, if the NCB has been paying attention to the massage community.
I believe there was proof of that earlier this week: they are paying attention. The fact that continuing education was not going to be a requirement to sit for the exam caused an uproar, and the NCBTMB’s Board of Directors has now decided to revisit that decision. The Task Force had recommended it all along, and the BOD voted against it. They are now going to back up on that and include that as one of the criteria for taking the exam. That’s a good thing.
I don’t personally accept any new massage clients…my staff members get those. Somebody has to do the laundry around here! I don’t know that the clients in my clinic will be impressed if I pass the exam or not. I don’t think I’ve taken any kind of exam since grad school, other than the NCETMB more than ten years ago, so it’ll be a stretch for me to participate in one at all. It might do me good to jog my memory and exercise a few brain cells.
What do you think? Is taking this exam going to be on your agenda? My inquiring mind wants to know.
Peace & Prosperity,
Laura Allen
April 28th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
I need to know more about it. I know it’s been a long time coming, but I’m not in any sort of loop and don’t know who does(n’t) favor it. I don’t how my present or future clients will benefit from a two-tiered certification system. I’ve only been certified since 2007, so I’m anxious to hear from more seasoned MTs.
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ’0 which is not a hashcash value.
May 1st, 2010 at 11:53 pm
Unfortunately more often than not these tests have no relevance to anything practical. They are typically just another hoop to jump through to get a piece of paper. I say “nay”.
May 4th, 2010 at 7:26 pm
I worked really hard 10+ years ago to pass the NCETMB.
I know a lot of MTs decided not to renew their certifications because it isn’t required by their state boards, but I did. I will probably take the ACE, like you, so I know what I’m talking about when someone brings it up and to see if my CEUs and daily work have really kept me “on top”. I want to be able to honestly tell other MTs whether the exam is truely difficult enough for passing folks to say “Advanced” means what it says.
May 4th, 2010 at 10:18 pm
An advanced certification exam is exactly what the industry, and the industry’s allied health colleagues, have been demanding for some time now. Yes, there is a rift between specialty and general, just as there is a rift between medical massage and energetic massage, and evidence-based therapies and those that are supported purely on faith. There are no easy answers for this, and no doubt NCB, or any other organization that would attempt this, would be attacked or criticized for going one way and not the other. Nonetheless, progress is almost always a good thing, and this is progress.
As far as taking the exam, there does not seem to be any published information yet regarding the content. Once that is released, I am sure that there will be more people who have firmer opinions or expectations about it.
In my opinion, I would like to see the profession move away from vocation and into academia. The best case scenario is that an associates degree is offered in science and arts. The A.S. would be directed toward medical/health care massage, the A.A. would be energy healing and spa therapies. Without an educational structure such as this, there is no way for a universal advanced exam to be developed. That is not to say I am against the ACE, I am for it. However, to suggest that a general exam is not going to be as useful as a targeted exam is a lot like saying energy work is better than medical-based massage, or vice versa. There is a place for both, as I think 90% of therapists believe. They both have their place, but are so completely unrelated that they might as well be separate occupations, in my opinion.
My point is this: as long as there remains a hole in the industry that constitutes the Body of Knowledge, there will be little ability for any powerful organization to further the profession through an exam. I commend NCB for their efforts, and I hope the existence of an ACE will spur the development of the educational parts that are needed in this industry. Until then, there will remain no easy answers, no easy moves forward, and no easy standards to be enforced.
May 4th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
I agree that there isn’t enough info running through my mind on the subject of ACE, but still I am inclined to say a good MAYBE. I am torn between showing I have more advanced skills by passing a test to receive a paper, or just showing it through my work itself. Is this another way to make a few bucks off of MT’s, or is it legitimately purposeful in it’s intentions of higher education? Also, I would like to keep the hope that if MT’s do not take this exam, it won’t be misread as a costly career misfortune by employers, and vice versa.
May 5th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
I like the idea more than not, I have to say. There is some reassurance that there are others that feel the same as I do. I want to point out that it is true, there are therapists as countless as the modalities and techniques are discovered in massage world. It gives me a certain peace that my efforts these years are not just from a futile vocational schooling, but from good, hard work in the academic realm as well. It is comforting to know that there are people fighting for higher education. I’d probably take it!! There, I made up my mind!
May 16th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
After your critical articles about NCB in the past I’m surprised you missed what is an obvious attempt by them to make more money. It will have no professional relevance. Sorry Laura.
Scott in PA