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Is massage therapy a profession?

I just published a post in which I was very careful in choosing my words.

I avoided using, and took out any reference to, the word profession.

Why?

Some time ago I read an article that made the case for what constitutes a profession.

I can't recall the venue of publication and Google hasn't revealed it to me yet either.

It has lingered in my mind and sprang up with the recent discussion here about the future of the profession.

So is massage a profession?

Here is a list I came across:

* Accountants
* Actuaries
* Advocates
* Architects
* Doctors
* Dentists
* Engineers
* Financial analysts
* Interpreters
* Lawyers
* Librarians
* Nurses
* Pilots
* Physiotherapists
* Pharmacists
* Physicians
* Professors
* Social Workers
* Teachers

No mention of massage.

Why?

Have a look at these professions. What do they have in common?

They all have as a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree as the educational requirement.

Some may be fooled into thinking that massage is a profession because in some states the licensing of massage is managed by the same agency that manages the real professions, e.g., New York.

I'm with Martha Brown Menard (2009) in believing that future massage practitioners should have the option to graduate with a baccalaureate degree. In fact, that has already occurred in other countries, notably New Zealand and Canada. The United States is lagging behind in this regard.

References

Menard, M. (2009). Letter to the editor. International Journal Of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork: Research, Education, & Practice, 2(2). Retrieved February 19, 2011, from http://www.ijtmb.org/index.php/ijtmb/article/view/48/58

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Comment by Matthew D. Stewart on March 2, 2011 at 8:32am: 'Vocation' or 'trade' seem to fit better.

Comments?

Comment by Alexei Levine on February 20, 2011 at 5:14pm: When I was in PT school we were taught that the only true professions were Law and Medicine, as these were the only two professions whose practices could not be owned by a non-professional. So, a non MD could not own a medical practice and a non attorney could not own a law practice. My professors in PT school classed PT as a "semi-profession". Of course the meaning of words changes with the passing of time, so I would hesitate to say whether this is true anymore.

Comment by Matthew D. Stewart on February 20, 2011 at 4:20pm: Hi Rick,

Thank you for your research and comments. Perhaps 'trade' is a more accurate term.

Hi Ravensara,

I like your mention of fiduciary duty, certainly seems to me a hallmark of an ethical practitioner.

Hi Christopher,

Indeed, for some professions a bachelor's degree is just one component of the educational requirements to join the profession. Law, as it's practised in the UK, Australia and New Zealand for example, requires its prospective members to study for an LLB then study for the bar or "the profs". Osteopathy in NZ is a bachelor's degree plus a Master's degree and a final 8 hour practical competency exam. Even then you must be recommended to the licensing board by the dean of the school, have a criminal check and 2 letters of good standing.

The US has a system of professional doctorates for the professions of medicine, physical therapy, chiropractic and law, to name a few. I think physical therapy is an interesting profession to observe. It's members have progressed from diploma level of training (in my knowledge of Australia, New Zealand, UK) to degree and now doctorate level training.

Being a professional carpenter may be more related to the manner in which the carpenter conducts his business, i.e. professional conduct rather than carpentry being a profession. I think carpentry is more accurately described as a trade.

Indeed there are many bachelor's degrees that don't lead to a profession. As to whether a bachelor's degree alone has much to do with constituting a profession, no it does not - but educational requirements are not the only factor in determining what is a profession. And as is the case in physical therapy, we can see that the educational requirements change over time.

IMO, the research output from the DPT programs are a huge contribution to our understanding of what is occurring in manual treatment.

Comment by Ravensara Travillian on February 20, 2011 at 11:11am: I think that, way more than the training, the question of a profession hinges on the practitioner's responsibility to the client.

The concept of fidiuciary duty, I think, is central to the idea of a profession. You have to put your clients' interest ahead of yours, even if it means you lose a fee. So a spa therapist who learns a client has an absolute systemic contraindication, and refuses to perform the massage, losing the fee, is behaving as a professional would behave. A practitioner with multiple advanced certifications, who takes money from a client who shouldn't get a massage, is not behaving as a professional, and the number of hours underneath their belt has nothing to do with it.

There are other responsibilities besides money, of course; these are just two straightforward examples of the larger principle.

Comment by Christopher A. Moyer on February 20, 2011 at 10:48am: But certainly there are professions in which a bachelor's degree is not the minimum training standard. One can be a professional carpenter, or welder, without a bachelor's degree.

Also, many of the professions in your list of examples require training beyond a bachelor's degree. There are also plenty of bachelor's degrees (most, probably) which do not logically lead to any specific profession.

So, while I think I understand the point you are trying to make, I don't think a bachelor's degree has much to do with whether something is a profession or not.