Education, Training, and Continuing Education Requirements
Education, Training, and Continuing Education
This domain tests what counts as qualifying education, how schools are approved, and how CE keeps a license current.
Core rules
- Pre-licensure education must be completed at a Board-approved massage therapy school or program and must total at least 650 clock hours. The curriculum must include anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, pathology, massage technique, ethics and boundaries, sanitation, and business or law-related content.
- The MBLEx is the standard entry examination. A school's approval status matters: hours from an unapproved program generally do not satisfy the education requirement.
- Continuing education is required each renewal cycle-currently 24 hours per biennium, including ethics hours specified by Board rule. CE must be from acceptable providers and relevant to massage practice; documentation must be retained for audit.
- CPR and first aid courses may count only if the Board's rules allow them; do not assume every workshop qualifies.
Worked example
A licensee submits 24 CE hours, but 6 are from an unapproved energy-business webinar and 2 are ethics. The Board counts only acceptable, relevant hours; the licensee is short and must complete additional approved CE before renewal. Reasoning: the total is not enough by itself; provider approval, relevance, and the ethics minimum are separate tests.
Traps
Do not double-count the same course in one cycle. Do not count teaching a course unless the rule allows it. Do not assume conference attendance equals CE hours. Do not let school approval or CPR status lapse without checking the current rule.