Students have the opportunity to experience the use of contrast applications, castor oil packs, icing for specific injury and several modes of heat administration. Students are also required by New York State to take Adult Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Standard First Aid, through the American Red Cross or American Heart Association, prior to graduation in order to be eligible to take the New York State Licensing Examination. In addition to regular classroom hours, students are required to complete a full massage practicum. All practice massage sessions are given free of charge. The Massage Practicum affords students the chance to work intensively with members of the community, other students and people in their own lives, supported by staff supervision.
Students receive valuable feedback and keep detailed records of their work.
This aspect of the practicum provides students with a wide range of experience and provides members of the community with beneficial therapeutic massage they may not otherwise receive. In recognition of the powerful learning tool that conscious receipt of massage can be, students must also receive 2 massages from professional massage therapists. These courses seek to establish an understanding of the body that illuminates internal experience rather than only giving abstract data to be memorized. Discussions include the physiology of muscle pathology, preventative health maintenance, and an introduction to the principles of nutrition. Emphasis is also given to the physiology of emotional experience and the role of the body-mind connection the maintenance of chronic tension.