The Vicars Curriculum
There are no official curriculum or entry-to-practice standards for massage therapists in Alberta. This means the quality of the education that a student receives depends entirely on the priorities and integrity of the school they choose.
That’s why it is so important, in an unregulated province like Alberta, that you choose a program that is nationally accredited.
What We Teach, and How We Teach It
Vicars School is fully accredited by the Canadian Massage Therapy Council for Accreditation. The curriculum, and how it is delivered, is at the core of what the CMTCA looks for in awarding accreditation. If you are looking for a massage school, that is what you want to look for, too!
Year 1
In your first year, you will learn how to perform an effective relaxation massage and begin learning more advanced therapeutic assessment and treatment techniques. You begin to learn muscles and bony landmarks, and deeply reinforce the learning in class. There is a strong focus on the science of the human body, as well as massage theory and ethics, primarily taught online on Moodle, our interactive learning platform. Midway through your first year, you’ll start gaining real-world experience by practicing your skills in clinical settings.
Year 2
In your second year, you will learn how to treat a wide range of conditions, and perfect your assessment and treatment planning skills. You’ll continue to hone your skills in our supervised public clinics and in our in-class teaching clinics and outreach events, you will work with clients with the specific conditions you’re learning about in Pathology. With your second-year case study assignment, you’ll do in-depth research on a condition of your choice, and plan and execute a long-term treatment plan with a real client. You’ll also prepare for your career by creating a business plan.
Instead of dividing our classroom learning into different classes, our curriculum material is fully integrated. This is a more effective learning method, as it helps you make the connections between academic learning and hands-on techniques.
Why the Curriculum Matters Now
You may already know that it’s important to choose a massage therapy college that offers a 2200-hour program. The 2200-hour requirement was set by insurance companies, who were looking for an easy way to decide which massage therapists should get insurance billing numbers. But they didn’t set any standards for what schools should teach, or how.
In provinces where massage therapy is a provincially regulated profession, there is a mandatory curriculum standard that all colleges must meet. It has been developed by experienced massage professionals to ensure graduates have the skills and knowledge they need for a modern massage therapy career.
In other words, it’s about what you know and what you can do, not the length of the program.
This approach to education creates better therapists, and better outcomes for clients. We have chosen the same approach, which is why we voluntarily pursued and earned the same accreditation as that required in the regulated provinces. Our students have the same high-quality education as students in regulated provinces do (and will be prepared for when Alberta becomes regulated). And if you are interested in working in BC, Ontario, New Brunswick, PEI, or Newfoundland and Labrador, your diploma from Vicars will prepare you for writing their entrance exams.
Accreditation is a rigorous test of the quality of a school’s curriculum, materials, instruction, services, and facilities. To earn full accreditation, Vicars School had to demonstrate that it meets the same high standards that programs follow in BC, Ontario, and other provinces where massage therapy education is regulated. The bottom line is how well a program prepares its graduates to be effective therapists from their first day at work!
If you are choosing a massage school, accreditation is the evidence you need that your training will lead to success!
Yes. The way the Vicars School curriculum works is that all the different elements—classroom, online, clinic—are fully integrated. What you study online (Anatomy, for example) is preparation for understanding the skills taught in class; the techniques that are introduced and practiced in class are put to work in the clinic, with the guidance of your supervisors who tie it all together!
Let’s Connect
Our friendly and knowledgeable admissions advisors will help you decide for yourself if Vicars school is a good fit for you.
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