The Virginia Board of Nursing and the National Certification Board require that massage therapists receive a minimum of 500 hours of training, which must be accomplished in class under direct supervision of qualified instructors. If the curriculum of a school of massage in Virginia offers a large percentage of their hours outside of class, the graduates from that school would not qualify to sit for the National Certification Examination and thus would not be eligible for certification by the Virginia Board of Nursing. In addition, the State of Maryland, the District of Columbia, and many other states and municipalities now require a passing score on the National Certification Examination for Massage and Bodywork. Besides 500 in class hours of training, the National Certification Board requires that 100 hours of that training be in Human Anatomy and Physiology, at least 200 hours of massage theory and practice, and 2 hours of ethics. Any reputable massage-training program should have provisions to provide for a minimum of 100 hours of Human Anatomy and Physiology from a qualified instructor.
Massage therapy is a profession with professional ethical standards.
Proper draping techniques should be taught in a professional massage training program which do not expose the client, or student of massage to nudity. No ethical massage training program should allow nudity in its classroom. In March of 1999, the Virginia Association of Massage Schools was formed to promote high quality standards of education for the massage profession in the Commonwealth of Virginia. All members of this association hold to the ethics of the massage profession as well as all regulations on the local, state, and federal levels that apply to our profession. If you are considering enrolling in a massage therapy training program you should obtain all information regarding the course including all fees and requirements.