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Dear AHS:
My question is regarding all of the different massage certification exams. What is up with all the different exams? My husband is a chiropractor and there is only one exam for them. Why can’t there be just one? Why would I want to take the American Medical Massage Association National Certification Exam?
Belinda Gray
Saint Louis, MO
AHS Response -
Dear Belinda:
Unlike the Highlander movie series, there does not need to be just “one” massage certification exam there certainly are and can be more. One of the reasons for different exams is due to the many different kinds of massage therapy that are available, for example, one organization lists over 300 kinds of massage or massage related practices, another group states, “there are as many kinds of massage therapy as there are massage therapists”, and yet another website says that, “there are 80 types of massage.” Eighty, three hundred or thousands of types of massage and massage therapists, one exam or more, all of this still remains to be defined by the massage profession. There is not necessarily a right or wrong answer here.
You are probably aware that there are currently two major certification exams vying with each other for the massage testing market and they are the massage exams provided by these two organizations - National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork and the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards. The exams provided by these organizations are recognized as requirements towards massage licensure, registration, or certification in most states with massage licensure.
These links will take you to these two organizations websites:
Visit the Federation of State Massage Boards at:
http://www.fsmtb.org/
Visit the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork at:
http://www.ncbtmb.org/
There are also the American Medical Massage Association (AMMA) exams and this gets us to answering your question, “Why would I want to take the American Medical Massage Association national certification exam?” There are two AMMA national certification exams, the NBCA massage certification exam and the advanced diplomat exam in medical manual therapy. The NBCA massage certification exam was created to measure the entry level competency of students training in evidence based massage schools. The NBCA diplomat exam was created as a diplomat credential for advanced massage and manual therapists. The AMMA advanced exam was the first exam created by the AMMA in 1998 and it is the first diplomat credential in the massage therapy field. Since its introduction well over 6000 massage and manual therapists have taken these two exams. Other health care professions, such as medicine and chiropractic, have offered diplomat training, examination, and certification for many decades.
After creating and administering the AMMA diplomat exam a second exam was developed as an entry level exam to measure key competencies at the massage entry level and this exam has undergone ongoing psychometric evaluation at Michigan State University.
Neither AHS nor the AMMA really has an opinion as to whether the general massage community should chose a single exam or several. The only recommendation that AHS and the AMMA has for the massage profession and its associations is to make certain that the test questions comprising an exam are centered on standard bio medical information and practices, accepted health science materials and evidence based clinical methods and procedures. Adherence to standard scientific knowledge, biomedicine and evidence based health care methods and procedures have always been and remain a central value and ethic of the AMMA and AHS.
AMMA members who are NBCA certified can be proud of the fact that they have achieved several important milestones beyond their initial massage education and school certification. One, they have passed the most difficult exam in the massage industry. Two, they have passed a psychometrically validated exam, evaluated through the testing center at Michigan State University. Three, they have passed the first massage exam that is based upon accepted biomedicine and evidence based criteria. Four, if they have moved on to the diplomat exam they have achieved the first diplomat credential offered in medical manual therapy.
If a massage therapist is required to take an additional state licensure exam or either of the other two national certification exams they should not be concerned because frankly state mandated exams are just part of the effort and cost of earning a state license. If you look around at the different allied health care professions national certification, diplomat testing and certification, and state regulatory exams are just part of the process of being a true licensed professional.
The medical massage or medical manual therapist has just worked a little harder than some of their colleagues in the massage profession. They should own this achievement and they should be proud of it.
If you want to find resources to assist in your preparation for either of the two national certification exams try this link:
http://massageprep.com/
To get more information about the advanced certifications offered by the American Medical Massage Association or NBCA please fill out the information below and contact us, or visit the AMMA at this link:
http://americanmedicalmassage.com/
Thank you for your questions and we wish you every success in your massage career.
AHS Connect Staff