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Please sighn this petition! Reverse or modify their decision.

This is a petition to Reverse or modify NCBTMB's decision to leave out online or distant education from the Re-certification program. In its current state, the policy change is too great a hardship on the average therapist, and destructive to distant education businesses.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/reverse-or-modify-ncbtmbs-decision...

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I signed this!

Please keep this at the forefront. I like taking live courses, but I, like many MTs need the convenience, and appreciate the low cost of home-study courses. And for stuff like ethics- seriously, we know our ethics by now, how would a live workshop course in ethics bring more to the table than an online test? With the online courses, we get books, dvds, cds, and a test to take. Online courses are a great way to get in all of our CEUs when we can't necessarily take workshops. Am I the only one who has noticed that a lot of workshops take place on weekends (when we work!) and are super pricey?
A) can't take off weekends
B) can't afford to blow $200 smackers on 7 credits every time. It adds up!

Okay. I'm not trying to be negative or blow on the union horn again (okay, maybe I am), but it just seems to me that everywhere I turn around there's someone trying to take advantage of MTs.

-C
I have a question. Why do I really need 're-certification' by the NCBTMB?
Bert
Because the NCBTMB certification is a requirement in many states for licensure and without that you simply cannot practice legally unless all you do is energy work. "USA"

As for the recertification part.. if your state checks if your certification is "current" then you need it. My state was suppose to, but never did.

Bert Davich said:
I have a question. Why do I really need 're-certification' by the NCBTMB?
Bert
Thanks for the reply Zac. I was confused because Missouri accepts many cert exams including MBLEx, NCETM, ABT, NCCAOM, and (AMMA NBCE) for initial license. Renewal requirements are limited to meeting continuing education requirements and do not require NCBTMB or any other "National (Re)Certification". (I just checked current statute to make sure of any changes)So until such time as the "National Certification" allows me to practice in another state without having to jump through the same hoops what is the point? If I cant practice in any state other than MO (with the exception of certain event 'exemptions' allowed in some states) why should I pay the NCBTMB for doing absolutely nothing for me except taking my money and then forcing me to pay extra for another ethics course? If I am missing something please let me know. I truly appreciate your contribution to this discussion, and I will sign the petition.
Namaste'
Bert Davich
Zac Carter said:
Because the NCBTMB certification is a requirement in many states for licensure and without that you simply cannot practice legally unless all you do is energy work. "USA"

As for the recertification part.. if your state checks if your certification is "current" then you need it. My state was suppose to, but never did.

Bert Davich said:
I have a question. Why do I really need 're-certification' by the NCBTMB?
Bert
Where do yo get that you have to go in person to get ethics? I was just at their site and didn't see anything like that.

Jason
You don't. Ethics, laws can be "letter form" and completely online. You must have a live class, in person, when the material for the course has video or images.

But that may change in a few weeks. Angela Palmier stated that she passed this info along to NCBTMB, she is a relations specialist for them, she stated that they are working on a solution and will have a response in some 30 days. So that's pretty darn good news.
Jason Day said:
Where do yo get that you have to go in person to get ethics? I was just at their site and didn't see anything like that.
Jason
Bert..

If your state only requires 1 certification, and no re-certification then to be honest.. who cares about re-certification! Now your state may later change their rules, but that probably will not apply to you because you would be in a previous rule-set. If I had done my massage training back in the late 90's in Utah, the NCBTMB requirement would not apply to me, even today.

Employers or professionals referring business to you may still desire that you be NCBTMB certified, unfortunately.
Zac Carter said:
Because the NCBTMB certification is a requirement in many states for licensure and without that you simply cannot practice legally unless all you do is energy work. "USA"

As for the recertification part.. if your state checks if your certification is "current" then you need it. My state was suppose to, but never did.

Bert Davich said:
I have a question. Why do I really need 're-certification' by the NCBTMB?
Bert

This is misinformation or misunderstanding. I've looked at a lot of the state laws. What they require is passage of an exam to achieve initial licensing rather than certification. Some laws, in the past, have specified an exam provided by the NCBTMB (which offers the exams stand-alone as well as ipart of certification), some laws specify an exam approved by an agency accredited by NOCA/NCCA (which accredits certifying agencies), and some laws specify a psychometrically-valid exam approved by the board or regulating agency. With the creation of the FSMTB (Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards) and their creation of the MBLEx (licensing exam), state laws are increasingly being modified to the last wording. This allows use of the MBLEx as the exam instrument.

North Carolina used to be unique in requiring certification for initial licensing. They have or are in the process of switching over entirely to use of the MBLEx (which is a licensing exam only), so that is or will shortly be history.

In unregulated states, some cities or counties have required NCBTMB certification, but states generally avoid that. Among the reasons are that states have immunity from anti-trust laws but that immunity cannot be delegated to a private agency. According to court cases, setting of licensing requirements has to both serve an explicit state purpose and must be actively reviewed and acted on by an agency of the state. When that is not the case, it potentially opens up the state to legal challenge. I had written up some of these considerations, specifically in the second paragraph, of a white paper.

Also, where the state regulates massage, employers will generally only be interested that the person is licensed. NCBTMB certification does not guarantee any specific set of capabilities brought to practice beyond very general licensing requirements -- one reason that a couple of different groups have branched into "medical massage" certifications. It remains to be seen what the NCBTMB's proposed "advanced certification" will provide in terms of specific knowledge, skills, and abilities. One might compare the situation with the competency profile and profile review used in British Columbia. In states not regulating massage, which is a shrinking category, NCBTMB certifications did provide a means of showing some credentialing.

There may be other reasons that a person may choose to maintain NCBTMB certification, but state licensing requirements are not among them. I'll also note that consortiums of federal defense agencies, academia, and business are pouring considerable resources into developing methods of technology-based distance education under the Advanced Distributed Learning initiative. These developments are being brought into health care training and competence management by MedBiquitous. Another recent development is the use of virtual worlds, such as second life, for some aspects of medical training. The development of Sloodle further extends the Moodle distance learning environment (DLE). Another such DLE is provided by the Sakai Project. Both Moodle and Sakai are developed and maintained by substantial academic/business consortiums. Massage industry perceptions of remote learning are increasingly becoming laughably archaic.
You are absolutely correct! I did not know this. When i was licensed, the information I received then was that we had to be NCBTMB certified. I just checked both Utah and California and you can have either the NCBTMB or the MBLEX, also on the renewal form there is no mention of a "recertification" requirement.

I guess there really is no reason to re-certify other than meeting employer/client expectations. Which still is a very good reason to keep certified.

... Now I am upset! Just read the MBLEX exam info, there is no renewal, once you pass you pass! That is much better because with the NCBTMB certificate it has an expiration date! bahh!

Also thx for the links!.. I did not know about sloodle or sakai.
Zac Carter said:
You are absolutely correct! I did not know this. When i was licensed, the information I received then was that we had to be NCBTMB certified. I just checked both Utah and California and you can have either the NCBTMB or the MBLEX, also on the renewal form there is no mention of a "recertification" requirement.

While NCBTMB offers both of its exams (NCETMB & NCETM) stand-alone (as the "national exam for state licensing" or NESL option on the application) they are essentially a certification organization. On the other hand, the MBLEx is simply a licensing exam. A certification is generally something requiring periodic renewal and that can have additional prerequisites. An exam is something you take at a specific point in time and either pass or don't. Thus passage of an exam is "renewable" only by taking the exam again. I'm not aware of any state laws that have a provision about exam currency.

And, unfortunately, a lot of misinformation gets propagated about regulation and requirements. Often times, I believe, because not many are prepared to go in and read the actual laws and regulations.

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