Experiential Learning

Coming from a trade, "learning by doing" defined as experiential learning (Lewis & Williams, 1994) is a necessary and required hallmark of our diploma. It is not enough to have an academic knowledge in a practical health care field like Massage Therapy, it must be conveyed in the interactions with each patient and the therapist's touch as well. Each regulated governing body requires set hours of and criteria for the experiential learning a student must complete before qualifying to challenge the regulation examinations. Even the provincial exams themselves have an experiential criteria for the examinations.

Students in our program participate in clinical practice, working for 5 hours weekly, in addition to their classroom time, treating the public with the supervision of an RMT while in first year. In second year we prepare various outreaches of 6 to 12 week duration where students worth with a patient based on pathology or condition that is challenging them. Outreaches include conditions you may expect like Sport, Orthopedic, Maternity, Pediatrics, Neurologic, Systemic, as well as ones you may not such as Cancer, Scar, Grief, Addictions, and many more unique experiences to enable our graduates to be well rounded and confident therapists as they enter their practises.

Experiential learning allows for regular feedback by many different RMT's and patients to assist students in growth of their hands on skills, deductive reasoning, as well as ethical decision making and professional boundaries.

Works Cited

CMTBC, CMTO, CMTNB, & CMTNL. (2012, June). Interjurisdictional competencies document. Retrieved July 30, 2016, from http://www.cmtbc.ca/sites/default/files/Inter-Jurisdictional-Practice-Competencies-and-Performance-Indicators-for-Massage-Therapists-at-Entry-to-Practice.pdf

Lewis, L.H. & Williams, C.J. (1994). In Jackson, L. & Caffarella, R.S. (Eds.). Experiential Learning: A New Approach (pp. 5-16). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.