Back again

I’m back again with another blog posting.

It’s been a pretty hectic couple of months for me. I’m trying to obtain full-time employment at my current job (PSW) while still making it to all of my massage therapy classes. I’m in an accelerated course, meaning that I take three semesters per year. The one saving grace is that I do get August off. I can’t wait to relax in the sun for a few hours.

On the massage front things are starting to make a little more sense for me. The initial shot of information is calming down, and the new material is building on top of the old stuff.

From a few of the co-op students and in-house teachers I here that the economic problems are really affecting the industry. Disposable income is down and many of the jobs with full-benefits (ie free massage) are starting to disappear.

In the meantime I’ll keep myself aware of what’s going on in the job industry. I usually check out sites like Workopolis and Massage Therapy Jobs Ontario , just for data collecting sakes.

Sorry…

Sorry. It’s been awhile since I’ve posted here. I’ll be perfectly honest with you. Work is starting to take up all of my free time. I’m also beginning to get spooked about entering the massage therapy industry in this current economy. With layoffs comes a lack of benefits. And we all know that personal spending is down and will probably continue to be so in the forseeable future. Just how many people have $100 to spend on a massage.

I’ll be back next week with a more upbeat post and update.

My Massage Therapy Course is Tough!!!

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise; massage therapy school is tough. 

A couple of years back I completed my personal support worker course and I thought I’d have some overlap but for the most part massage therapy is all new material. 

The amount of anatomy and physiology work is substantial. On the plus side I have been told by a few of the second year students that the course shifts from book to practical learning as things go on. 

My hats off to any current massage practitioners out there. Anyone left standing after this course has certainly proven their worth. 

Outside of that I don’t have too much to report. I’ll probably be looking for another massage table in the coming month. I did receive a table with my course registration but it’s not the greatest. Opinions differ on which brand is the best. As of now I have my sights set on a Master brand table that is currently sold at Costco warehouses in Ontario.

Massage School

Hi everyone!

I’ve had a number of projects and tests in my massage therapy course over the past few weeks. I hope this somewhat explains my absence from blogging here on this page.

Anyways, right around the corner will be my semester ending final exams. I’m taking a condensed or accelerated two year course. It’s quite a bit of work packed into a small time frame. I’m not sure if I’d go to a three year program if I had the chance again…

My logic in choosing the accelerated course was that I’d be out earning massage therapy money a year sooner. With this I’d be a year quicker in building a client base. I just hope the economy in Ontario is in decent shape in the two years until I graduate. Maybe that’s an advantage that three year courses currently have. The length of the course may stretch out over the full time of the recession. 

I’ll let you know how my studying and test go.

 

I rocked my first OSCE

My OSCE went well. It’s a lot of memorization, that’s for sure. I think it counted for 15% of the final mark in that particular class. I’m starting to ramble. 

 

I still haven’t decided what exactly I’m planning to do with this blog. I may make it into a running diary or just a place to store and recommend some of the webs and real worlds better massage therapy products, books, etc.

For now I’ll check in every few days for an update, tell everyone (if anyone’s out there…?) what I’ve been learning, practicing, etc. 

 

That’s it for today. Have a great weekend!

 

 

These Cats are having a great weekend. Make sure you do too!

Massage Therapy OSCE

I have my OSCE test this afternoon. I’m trying to juggle a possible sleep shift PSW position with a future in the massage therapy industry. I hope my OSCE goes well. Still wondering if I should take that sleep shift…

Massage Therapy Jobs in Canada

 

Where can an aspiring massage therapist look to find the best and highest paying current massage therapy jobs? 

In Canada there are a number of different options. To begin with you will need to take a good minute or so and think about the town you are in. Let’s make a list of basic questions:

 

• Do you want to stay in town, commute or even move for a massage therapy job?
• Do you want to set up your own business?
• Work in a spa?
• A medical office or any other type of medical setting?

These are basic outlieing questions. Once you’ve decied on the answers you can move onto the next list:

• Media Hunt: What are the main media sources in town (paper, TV, etc)
• Find the city hall job listings
• Job gyms, boards, etc
• In-town employment associations

I’m sure you get the point about some of these questions. What about online Massage Therapy Canadian Jobs websites? There are plenty of websites out there. Most can be found via google, although I do recommend Massage Therapy Ontario for all of your Canadian massage information needs. 

Do a solid search of the websites content. Cross reference this to what you’ve found offline. This should give you a good head start to finding a rewarding massage therapy job in the country of Canada.