I chose Humber College because it seemed very inviting and friendly. It was also easy to travel to which is a big factor when choosing a school for me. I chose Humber’s Massage Therapy program because it provided me the opportunity to experience multiple internships in various locations with very different populations. Having two out of the three years with hands on experience made the decision easier because I am a hands-on learner. The other opportunity it provided was a research project, which I had never had the experience of doing before and thought it would be an interesting.
My main career aspiration is to help people. Whether that is helping in the recovery process from an injury, or helping them relax from a stressful week at work. I do not have any specializations or modalities I am currently interested in pursuing; I am still very new to the industry and am getting my feet wet.
The faculty of the Massage Therapy Program at Humber is very dedicated to their students. During my time at Humber, the one thing I remember the most about the faculty was that they always gave the opportunity to learn more. During labs or internships, the instructors were always open to showing new ways to treat a muscle, or how to drape differently to effectively treat a certain area of the body. Any time you had a question, they were happy to answer it. I still use some of the techniques that were shown to me in internships today as I practice. If you were stuck on something, the instructors would stay with you and help you work it out until you got it. Even after I graduated and left Humber, if I had any questions about being an RMT, they took the time to reply. For future students, never be afraid to ask a question or how to demonstrate something. Pick their brain because that is what they are there for. They have years of experience and I think that is what made every class interesting.
This one I remember clear as day because it was a personal growth moment for me as much as it was for everyone else in the class. In my last year of the program, an instructor took our class out for a field trip where we met patients with Cerebral Palsy. The patient that I had the pleasure of meeting was one of the most upbeat, intelligent and delightful people I have ever met in my entire life. He told our group all about his life with CP, the ups and downs and cracked a few jokes. When it was all over, I remember going home and realizing that textbooks and lectures tell you sign and symptoms and ways to treat people with cerebral palsy or other diseases/conditions. Everything is very black and white. There isn’t a person attached to the learning. That was the moment I realized that I need to always remember there is a person behind the disease/condition. You are treating the person, not just the aches and pains that come with it.
The internships were the most vital in preparing me for a future in Massage Therapy. The On – Campus internships provided more of a clinic-based approach that I believe were more focused on obtaining structure and working with others. Students would bounce ideas off one another or demonstrate techniques they were taught by different instructors. It gave students an opportunity to learn real skills that no textbook could have ever provided. The Off- Campus internships were based on adapting to different populations and circumstances. It tested you in various ways to see how you would approach a situation where there was more than one variable such as non-verbal communication, or a condition that needs the patient to be positioned in a certain way. Lastly, the internships in general really allowed students to work on their communications skills, which for me was always a harder task. Looking back now and remembering my first internship compared to my last, my communication and comfortability levels improved substantially.
I would recommend this program to others because it provides you a lot of hands-on experience with many different people. The interactions between students and faculty help build up your skill so that you have the confidence to go forward in the future as an RMT. The last semester of this program is dedicated to helping students practice for their registration exams, which helped so much when it came time to perform them.