Missouri Code of State Regulations › Title 20 - DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND INSURANCE › Division 2197 - Board of Therapeutic Massage › Chapter 2 - Massage Therapist Licensure Requirements › Section 20 CSR 2197-2.010 - Application for Licensure

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 14, July 15, 2024
PURPOSE: This amendment updates and clarifies clock
				  hours for licensure.
EMERGENCY STATEMENT: The Board of Therapeutic Massage
				  is requesting to change the minimum clock hours for education requirements, for
				  apprenticeship with a certified mentor and from a Coordinating Board of Higher
				  Education (CBHE). This change is required to ensure that students who can
				  qualify for federal grants and loans for Massage programs can meet the
				  requirements for their programs and be able to receive aid, to complete their
				  program. Currently, most Missouri entry-level programs and
				  apprenticeships/mentorships (on average) provides at least six hundred
				  twenty-five (625) clocked hours to graduate from their programs. The United
				  States Department of Education is amending their rule effective July 1, 2024,
				  regarding minimum education requirements. Students entering massage programs or
				  mentorships will not qualify for federal aid with the current clock hour
				  requirements. If the rule is not amended by July 1, 2024, it will restrict
				  federal financial aid to the entry level competence standard (minimum) which is
				  the role of regulation (as opposed to allowing funding for a quality education
				  program for lifelong learning) restricts access to education for already
				  disadvantaged students and has the opposite effect of the purpose of federal
				  financial aid funding. Students will be deprived of loans, schools will close,
				  the massage therapist labor shortage will be exacerbated.
Increasing the minimum number to six hundred
				  twenty-five (625) hours of initial core education is required for students to
				  acquire the core skills to safely practice massage therapy. As a result, the
				  Board of Therapeutic Massage finds there is an immediate danger to the public
				  health, safety, and/or welfare and a compelling governmental interest that
				  requires this emergency action. The scope of this emergency amendment is
				  limited to the circumstances creating the emergency and complies with the
				  protections extended in the Missouri and United States Constitutions. A
				  proposed amendment covering the same material is published in this issue of the
				  Missouri Register. The Board of Therapeutic Massage believes this emergency
				  rule is fair to all interested persons and parties under the circumstances.
				  This emergency amendment was filed May 24, 2024, becomes effective July 1,
				  2024, and expires February 27, 2025.
(1) A person who seeks licensure as a massage
				therapist and has completed either six hundred twenty-five (625) clock hours of
				massage therapy training in an apprenticeship with a certified mentor and has
				successfully passed an examination approved by the board or massage therapy
				studies consisting of at least six hundred twenty-five (625) clock hours of
				supervised instruction from a Coordinating Board of Higher Education (CBHE)
				certified school, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
				(DESE) approved vocational program or school, or school, college, university,
				or other institution of higher learning in the United States accredited by a
				regional accrediting commission recognized by the United States Department of
				Education or an equivalent approving body for out-of-state applicants, shall be
				at least eighteen (18) years of age and shall submit the following:
(A) A completed notarized application and
				application fee;
(B) Two (2) sets
				of fingerprints for the purpose of conducting a criminal background check by
				the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
				Any fees due for a fingerprint background check shall be paid by the applicant
				directly to the Missouri State Highway Patrol or its approved
				vendor(s);
(C) Official evidence of
				completing six hundred twenty-five (625) clock hours of massage therapy
				training in an apprenticeship with a certified mentor or an official final
				transcript showing successful completion of a massage therapy program to be
				submitted directly to the board office from the certified mentor or massage
				therapy program which includes:
1. The
				applicant's name.
2. Date of
				enrollment.
3. Date of completion;
				and
4. Documentation that the
				massage therapy program consisted of at least six hundred twenty-five (625)
				clock hours of supervised instruction which consisted of-
A. At least three hundred (300) clock hours
				dedicated to massage theory and practice techniques provided directly by the
				certified mentor or an instructor within a massage therapy program. An
				instructor for massage theory and practice techniques or certified mentor shall
				document at least two (2) years of massage therapy practice, and either be
				licensed as a massage therapist in this state or be licensure eligible, based
				upon board review of the instructor's credentials.
(I) An instructor of kinesiology or pathology
				within the massage therapy program shall submit verification of education
				and/or experience in kinesiology or pathology instruction and licensure as a
				massage therapist or licensure eligibility is not required.
B. At least one hundred (100) clock hours
				dedicated to the study of anatomy and physiology provided by one (1) of the
				following:
(I) The certified mentor who must
				hold an associate, bachelor, or advanced degree in a science related field from
				a college, university, or other institution of higher learning in the United
				States accredited by a regional accrediting commission recognized by the U.S.
				Department of Education that includes a course of study in anatomy and
				physiology. Such degrees include, but are not limited to, physical therapy,
				chiropractic, osteopathy, medicine, nursing, chemistry, or biology.
(II) A school, college, university, or other
				institution of higher learning in the United States accredited by a regional
				accrediting commission recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, a
				massage therapy program approved by the Missouri CBHE, or an out-of-state
				school approved by an agency equivalent to the Missouri CBHE.
(III) The certified mentor who must have
				earned at least fifteen (15) semester hours or twenty-five (25) quarter hours
				in science or science related courses from a college, university, or other
				institution of higher learning in the United States accredited by a regional
				accrediting commission recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. All
				course work must have a passing grade and at least eight (8) semester hours in
				fifteen (15) quarter hours of the course of study shall be in anatomy and
				physiology. For the purpose of this regulation a semester hour is equivalent to
				fifteen (15) clock hours and a quarter hour is equivalent to ten (10) clock
				hours.
(IV) An instructor within a
				massage therapy program who must hold an associate, bachelor, or advanced
				degree in a science related field that includes a course of study in anatomy
				and physiology. Such degrees include, but are not limited to, physical therapy,
				chiropractic, osteopathy, medicine, nursing, chemistry, or biology from a
				college, university, or other institution of higher learning in the United
				States accredited by a regional accrediting commission recognized by the U.S.
				Department of Education; or
(V) An
				instructor within a massage therapy program who must have earned at least
				fifteen (15) semester hours or twenty-five (25) quarter hours in science or
				science related courses from a college, university, or other institution of
				higher learning in the United States accredited by a regional accrediting
				commission recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. All course work must
				have a passing grade and at least eight (8) semester hours or fifteen (15)
				quarter hours of the course of study shall be in anatomy and physiology. For
				the purpose of this regulation a semester hour is equivalent to fifteen (15)
				clock hours and a quarter hour is equivalent to ten (10) clock
				hours.
C. At least fifty
				(50) clock hours dedicated to business practice, professional ethics, hygiene,
				and massage law in the state of Missouri provided by a certified mentor or an
				instructor within a massage therapy program with documented
				experience/education in a related field;
D. At least fifty (50) clock hours dedicated
				to ancillary therapies provided by a certified mentor or an instructor(s)
				within a massage therapy program with documented experience/education in a
				related field. The fifty (50) clock hours shall include at a minimum
				cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid provided by an instructor who
				holds the respective instructor certification; and
E. Applicants for licensure shall have
				completed no less than six hundred twenty-five (625) clock hours. Hours may be
				completed in any combination identified in subsection (1)(C) as long as the
				minimum number of hours are met in each category;
				and
(D) Evidence
				of passing one of the following:
1. National
				Certification Examination for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCETBM) as
				administered by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and
				Bodywork or its successor organization;
2. National Certification Examination for
				Therapeutic Massage (NCETM) as administered by the National Certification Board
				for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork or its successor organization;
3. Asian Bodywork Therapy (ABT) Examination
				as administered by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and
				Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM);
4. The
				American Medical Massage Association National Board Certification Examination
				(AMMA NBCE) administered as of 2006;
5. Massage and Bodywork Licensing Examination
				(MBLEx) as administered by the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards or
				its successor organization; or
6.
				An examination deemed appropriate by the board;
(E) An applicant completing a massage therapy
				program consisting of less than six hundred twenty-five (625) hours of
				supervised instruction from a Missouri Coordinating Board of Higher Education
				(CBHE) approved school, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary
				Education (DESE) approved vocational program or school, college, university, or
				other institution of higher learning in the United States accredited by a
				regional accrediting commission recognized by the United States Department of
				Education or an equivalent approving agency for out-of-state schools, or who
				has completed a massage therapy program deficient in clock hours according to
				20 CSR 2197-2.010(1)(C) 4.A.-D. may complete deficiencies at either a
				Missouri CBHE approved school, DESE approved vocational program, mentorship
				approved by the board, or school, college, university, or other institution of
				higher learning in the United States accredited by a regional accrediting
				commission recognized by the United States Department of Education, or an
				out-of-state school approved by an agency equivalent to CBHE; and
(F) For the purpose of 20 CSR 2197-2.010, a
				clock hour is defined as fifty (50) minutes of instruction and the course of
				instruction meeting the educational requirements for licensure shall not be
				provided via correspondence course, audiotape, videotape, or other electronic
				means unless approved by the board.