MY MASSAGE SCHOOL EXPERIENCE
or What was it like for me to attend massage therapy school?
Jeff Kaplan, R.N., L.M.T., RNOiLCouple2@yahoo.com
Hi Massage Therapist, or Anyone who is curious about what it was like going to massage therapy school?
My name is Jeff Kaplan, and I attended massage school at Heritage Institute of Massage Therapy in Fort Myers, FL, from October 7, 02, through September 4, 03. It was a 900 clock hour course of study. I had wanted to attend massage school for over seven years. I was intrigued by the idea of massage school, since i have always been interested in health, and helping other people heal themselves naturally, in lieu of drugs, and surgery. On top of that, I was inspired to go to massage school by a secretary named Melinda, at a home health nursing agency I worked at back in 2001. I said to myself, I should maybe take her up on her encouragement. About a week later, as I sat at home, with no nursing visits to go out on, I was wondering what I should do? Immediately, I remembered Melinda's encouraging words about going to massage school. I grabbed a phone book, found Heritage Institute under "Massage Schools" and called them. I chose that school, because a good friend of mine, who is also an R.N., had taken care of their Education Director's father.
I called, and was told to come on out and look them over. I did just that, and I was impressed! I still didn't think I could afford it, because I originally thought i would never be able to afford the $7000 plus tuition that it would cost me. I had not considered the possibility of taking out a student loan. When I was told of that I qualified for a student loan, I was IN!
The curriculum consisted of six modules of 6 weeks each, four hours per day, Monday through Friday. We would have 2 hours of lecture, or test taking, and two hours of massaging each other. In this way, we gave, and received a massage every single day, 5 days a week.
In our classes, we covered such topics as Neuromuscular Anterior and Posterior, Musculo-Skeletal System, Hydrotherapy, Functional Assessment, Anatomy and Physiology of various organ systems that included genito-urinary, cardio-pulmonary, G.I., blood vascular, lymphatic/immune system, and nervous system. We also covered FL Law and ethics, Hiv/Aids propaganda, and "medical errors". At the end of these six 6 week modules, we had a nine week clinical rotation where we massaged the public. We also had an intro to sports and chair massage.
Already being an R.N. prior to the start of massage school, it was fairly easy for me to handle the anatomy/physiology stuff, along with the medical terminology.
What I was to find out however, was that getting naked in class didn't really come naturally to me. My wife also didn't seem to consider that part. She had gone to Wal-Mart and purchased a nice, cheap set of white sheets for me. You might say, What is so bad about that? Nothing, except in our classes, the massager, had to hold the sheet up while the massagee would stand behind the sheet, and remove their clothing. You can practically see clear through cheap white sheets.
With all the schooling I have been to-bachelor's degree in Biology, Nursing School, Tech School in the Air Force, not to mention high school, etc., I was never required to strip down to my birthday suit. Even in nursing school when we were practicing bed baths, i was still allowed to wear a bathing suit, while two nursing students gave me a "bedbath".
My first day of massage school, I had to get a massage by my female partner. She held up that thin, white sheet my wife had purchased, while I stood behind it against the wall, trying to hide myself from her. She smiled and reassured me that she wouldn't peek!
Well, I trusted her, and actually half enjoyed my massage! Later on that week, I even became quite used to tossing my clothes over the sheet, and being ready to lay on the table in less than a minute. My modesty was beginning to wane.
One of the things we were taught, esp in the beginning, was "proper draping technique". New massage therapy students are not well versed in draping, unfortunately, or fortunately-depending on how you look at it. (or her, or him for that matter). After one particular male student was massage by a cute young lady, he complained that he felt a major draft down around the private area of his anatomy. This was not an isolated incident.
I had an excellent massage instructor for most of my 45 weeks of school. He was also a Physical Therapist, as well as Massage Therapist. He really knew his anatomy well, particularly the musculo-skeletal system. Under him, I learned it pretty well. His only fault was, he had a temper. One day he threw an eraser at a student who he thought was talking, and hit her with it right square in the face.
We had an annoying classmate named, "Gordon" who constantly talked, asked the most idiotic, rediculous questions, and disrupted the class. He was not the brightest person in the building, as he consistently scored in the 20 and 30% on his tests. The average was in the low 80's, out of 100%. One day as he kept talking, and wouldn't shut up, I yelled at him, "AT EASE GILBERT!" A couple of students came up to me afterward, and told me they were glad i yelled at him so he would shut his trap.
In clinical, we were supposed to end our massages within a 50 minute time frame. I had a challenge with that. One day, I found myself behind on the clock when i was massaging this one lady. Our instructor came back to where i was, and informed me that i had 10 minutes left. I still hadn't massaged the back of her legs, or her back. All I had done was her head, and her front except for the front of her torso.
I did "the rest of her" really quickly so I wouldn't miss anything. Well, the lady was understandably not happy with my rush job. After that, I vowed to never rush anybody again, and do the best job possible-even if it made me run overtime.
One day in clinical, sitting in the waiting room with the rest of us, a female student was obviously in dire pain. She had her head down, clutching her stomach area. Being the nosy nurse that I am, I asked her what was wrong? She glared at me with this pained expression, and muttered, "Female problem."
I exclaimed, "OH, I HAVE JUST THE THING FOR YOU!" She rolled her eyes. I made a beeline out of the building, ran to my car, and grabbed my bottle of oil that is a blend of oils that help the digestion. It contains Ginger, Peppermint, Anise, Patchouly, Tarragon, Fennel, and Juniper Oils.
I rushed inside and held it up for "Patrice" and told her that it would help her problem. I really wasn't sure that it would, but I figured it couldn't hurt her. She looked at me highly annoyed, "What do you want me to do with this?" I told her to hold her hand out, she did, and I placed a drop of the oil blend on her palm.
"Put your finger in that, and put it on your tongue.", i told her. She looked at me like i was asking for a $1000 dollars. You want me to do what?! I encouraged her to put a drop in her mouth, and finally she relented. Almost immediately she made several sound effects to express her displeasure with the taste. She got up and hurried out of the clinic. I didn't see her the rest of the day. The next day in clinic, i asked her, Patrice, did you have to go the bathroom after you left clinic yesterday?
She said, "Yeah."
Did you have to go number 2?
"Yeah!"
Did you go a lot?
"YEAH!"
Did you feel better after that?
"YEAH!!!"
A week or so later, her friend was sitting next to her in clinic, with her head down, clutching her abdomen, with a pained expression on her face. Patrice looked at her, and then over at me, and said, "Jeff, give her the same oil you gave me!" Unfortunately, her friend didn't want to be messed with, and refused my "treatment".
Another time, while receiving a massage, an 18 year old massage student cried out that her chest was hurting her. (I wasn't her massager, so it wasn't "my fault"). The instructor stopped everyone from massaging, and told me to come over and check her out, since I was the class nurse. I had no stethoscope, and no blood pressure cuff. All i had was a bottle of Lavender Oil in my pocket. I poured out 2 or 3 drops and told her to rub the oil over her chest where it was hurting her. She did that. Meanwhile, the paramedics had arrived, since the instructor had called 911. One of them named Mike, was a friend of mine from church. They loaded her on the stretcher and took her out. She was gone from school for almost a week.
She came back to class a week later, and when i saw her, she came up to me and gave me a hug. She said that out of all the stuff they did to her in the hospital, (nitro glycerin drip, and other medications), the Lavender Oil that i gave her to rub on her chest made her feel better than anything else. I had seen Mike the paramedic in church, and he confirmed that she had indeed had an M.I. (heart attack). An 18 year old had a heart attack while getting a massage! That is almost as bad as a man who has a heart attack while in the middle of having sex.
I have other stories about other massage school adventures, but I will save you the trouble. Suffice to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Heritage. I graduated at the top of our class with all A's, and passed the boards on my first try.
I feel that Heritage prepared me as well as they could, but I got most of my learning outside of school. I love what i do, and I feel much more empowered to help people than I ever did while working as a nurse.
I hope this has stimulated some memories of massage school for you too! If you are an L.M.T., or C.M.T., and would like to do an exchange with me, give me a call at 239-910-8045, and we'll do it! Or email me at RNOiLCouple2@yahoo.com I am better looking in real life, than the picture below. Haha!
