Woohoo! I just got the news that the class that’s one year ahead of me at my massage therapy school had a 100% pass rate at the Ohio State Medical Board licensing exams! Every single person who graduated in May is now a Licensed Massage Therapist in the fine state of Ohio. The #1 scorer in Anatomy was also from my school, earning a 99 out of 100. Since the pass rate for the 707 students taking the exam was 55%, I should be feeling pretty happy and smug, right?

Are you kidding? Okay, I’m thrilled my school lives up to its claims, otherwise I’d be out of luck to the tune of $10,000. But why on earth would I be happy that half the people who tried to enter the massage profession this summer failed?

We need to quit worrying about ditching the competition, and work to ditch this competitive narrow-sightedness instead.

Let’s broaden our view to the issue at hand:

Something is seriously messed up with our massage therapy schools if they cannot provide even the most basic education needed for its students to enter the field upon graduation. Public schools with a 55% pass rate are met with horror. Why should we expect adults to cash out for failure?

Sure, it’s a much tougher test than the NCBTMB, which isn’t accepted in Ohio. And okay, I get that not all students put sufficient effort into their studies in order to pass. Test anxiety certainly plays a part for some individuals as well. But how are students supposed to be preparing for their future practice when they’re so panicked about whether they’re going to be in the lucky 55? Spending all your extra time and money on cram courses, practice tests, and animal sacrifices to the gods of multiple choice isn’t exactly conducive to good body mechanics or an effective business plan.

Students with difficulties learning deserve help, not false hope. And lazy students who aren’t interested in putting in the effort deserve to fail early on, not after handing over a quarter of their paycheck, month after month. If 750 hours isn’t enough time for schools to teach what needs to be taught, maybe they ought to take more time. Maybe more of that tuition money should go towards coaching and tutoring, instead of cheesy radio ads about how becoming a massage therapist is oh-so-lucrative-and-fun. Instructors, professors, teachers, whatever the heck they’re calling themselves, need to take a hard look at the level of education they’re providing. The Medical Board says that half the people that graduate today aren’t even ready to start trying to learn whether they can make it as a professional.

As students, we shouldn’t stand for this kind of crap. Let’s build the best education we can for ourselves and everyone else who deserves it, too.

What change would you like to see in massage education? What’s on the best/worst list for your massage education experience? Leave a comment and join the discussion.

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