Course Descriptions

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Required and Recommended Textbooks

ADVANCED PRACTICE SKILLS – 40 hours (6-hour Seminar + 34 hours APS electives)

This 40-hour training refines the clinical skills taught throughout OSM’s 640-Hour Program. The focus is on refining the communication, assessment and bodywork skills necessary to create successful client-therapist relationships and treatment. The course will include advanced communication scenario practice as well as developing skills in communication with other health care providers. Students create an individual learning plan based on the focus of their massage practice. Meetings are scheduled throughout the term and students must complete 14 documented massage sessions, an oral mid-term and a final essay to successfully pass the seminar.
Prerequisite: Swedish or Shiastu Short Form Clinic   **Download the Advanced-Practice-Skills-Seminar flyer for more info!

ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY I – 30 hours/10 sessions

This course introduces students to general concepts in human anatomy and physiology including basic cellular function, the systems of the body and organization. Special focus is on the muscular and skeletal systems.
Prerequisite: None

ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY II – 30 hours/10 sessions

This course focuses on the integumentary, lymphatic, cardiovascular, respiratory and urinary systems.
Prerequisite: AP I

ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY III – 30 hours/10 sessions

This course focuses on the nervous, endocrine, digestive and reproductive systems.
Prerequisite: AP I

BUSINESS OF MASSAGE – 15 hours/5 sessions

This class covers professional ethics, business planning and the role of massage in the health care field. Some marketing strategies will be discussed. We recommend you take this towards the end of the training.
Prerequisite: Clinic of Shiatsu SF Clinic may be concurrent.

CLINIC – 45 hours/10 sessions

This class introduces the student to “real life” massage practice situations with supportive supervision. While doing supervised sessions with clients from the general public, students will refine their massage technique, practice listening skills and boundary setting, and begin to make treatment plans. Required Clinic training is held on the first day of class.
Prerequisite: Massage – Assessment & Application (may be concurrent)

COMMUNICATION/ETHICS – 30 hours/10 sessions

This course is intended as a cornerstone for communication, ethics and boundaries that will be woven throughout the program. Students are honored as life-long learners while exploring the developmental process of communication, boundaries and responsibilities involved in a massage/touch relationship.
Prerequisite: Massage – Fundamentals (may be concurrent)

DAO YIN STRETCH – 7 hours/9 sessions

This movement discipline strengthens & enhances vitality in many dimensions by opening the joints and clearing the channels of energy. Dao-Yin Stretch will also increase mobility, strength, and resilience improving your coordination, balance and endurance. Dao-Yin helps the student develop the body awareness and understand the principles of alignment for practicing Shiatsu in an efficient manner. Prerequisite: None

HYDROTHERAPY – 15 hours/5 sessions or 1 weekend

A class intended for massage students. It combines theory and practical application of therapeutic use of water in its various forms. Prerequisite: Massage – Fundamentals, AP I (recommended: AP II). Click the following link to download a list of supplies. What to Bring-Hydro Weekend

KINESIOLOGY – LOWER BODY and UPPER BODY –  30 hours each/10 sessions per section

These 30-hour courses continue the study of the organization of the human body and how it moves. Upper Body focuses on the torso and upper extremities. Lower Body focuses on the lower extremities. Progressing one joint at a time, students will study the joint structure and function of the specific muscles (origin, insertion and action) that act on each joint. Each three-hour class consists of lecture, demonstration, quiz/review and palpation lab.
Prerequisite: AP I

MASSAGE – FUNDAMENTALS – 45 hours/12 sessions

Study therapeutic massage, focusing on Swedish strokes, general procedures, including sanitation and hygiene. Explore the psychological dimensions of massage as well. Weekly sessions are bolstered with two additional Saturday classes.
Prerequisite: None

MASSAGE – UPPER BODY and LOWER BODY – 30 hours each/10 sessions per section

This 60-hour training continues the training in therapeutic massage. It consists of two 30-hour courses (Massage – Upper Body and Massage – Lower Body), which can be taken concurrently or separately. Upper Body and Lower Body emphasize muscle specific application of a variety of Western massage procedures, a deeper understanding of related health sciences and the integration of technical bodywork procedures into a unified treatment session. Students will learn area specific bodywork. These classes include learning exercises in practitioner/client communications, practitioner self-care and body-mind integration.
Prerequisite: Massage – Fundamentals, Communication/Ethics, Kinesiology – Upper Body (for Massage – Upper Body; may be concurrent), Kinesiology – Lower Body (for Massage – Lower Body; may be concurrent)

MASSAGE – ASSESSMENT & APPLICATION – 30 hours/10 sessions

This 30-hour class continues the training in therapeutic massage. Massage – Assessment & Application emphasizes the application of a variety of Western massage procedures with a variety of common immune, musculo-skeletal, inflammatory, emotional and body-mind conditions. Students will continue to gain a deeper understanding of related health sciences and the integration of technical bodywork procedures into a unified treatment session. This class includes learning exercises in practitioner/client communications, assessment, charting notes, practitioner self-care and body-mind integration
Prerequisite: Massage – Upper Body & Lower Body, Hydrotherapy, Pathology I

MASSAGE THEORY – 14 hours/5 sessions

This 14-hour training is an introduction to the theory of therapeutic massage and bodywork. The course includes the history, application, and theory behind some of the major Functional, Structural, and Energetic approaches to the body. Each approach will be reviewed in terms of its relationship to the body and body psychology.
Prerequisite: Massage Fundamentals (may be concurrent)

PALPATION SKILLS – 15 hours/5 sessions

This 15-hour training refines the palpation skills taught in Massage and Kinesiology Upper and Lower Body classes. The course includes development of the cognitive, kinesthetic, and communication skills needed for successful treatment of the soft tissue. Palpation is an art as well as a skill and is used in all types of massage and bodywork treatments.
Prerequisite: Massage and Kinesiology Upper and Lower (may be concurrent with 2nd courses)

PATHOLOGY I – 30 hours/10 sessions

Pathology is the study of disease and/or the disharmony or imbalance of the body with its environment. This class will include indications and contraindications for massage, and cover sanitation and hygiene. It will address some of the body-mind aspects of disease.
Prerequisite: AP 1 (recommended: AP 2)

PATHOLOGY II – 30 hours/10 sessions

This class continues the study of disease and massage consideration for the rest of the body systems.
Prerequisite: Path I (recommended: AP II, AP III)

SHIATSU I – Short Form (Back) 30 hours/10 sessions or 5-day intensive

The Shiatsu program presents the theory, principles and techniques of Asian massage. In Shiatsu I, students learn a “kata”, or choreographed set of techniques for the back of the body. In addition, students are introduced to the energetic anatomy upon which Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Shiatsu is based. Names, locations, and functions of the primary channels are discussed, as well as the five-element theory. Students also learn a self-massage sequence called Dao Yin. Please note: This course is a part of our Core Pre-licensing Program. It requires homework, includes testing, and requires additional time commitments. LMTs are welcome to enroll and if you have any concerns please speak directly to your instructor.
Prerequisite: AP I (may be concurrent)

SHIATSU II – Short Form (Front) 30 hours/10 sessions

In Shiatsu II, students learn the kata for the front of the body, review channel locations and TCM theory. Finally, the students practice the whole “short form” kata with a focus on developing quality of touch. Students continue to do the Dao Yin self-massage exercise.
Prerequisite: Shiatsu I

SHIATSU SHORT FORM TUTORIAL – 3 hours/1 session

This is a private class in which the student practices on the instructor who provides detailed feedback on the student’s work. Following the completion of the clinic practicum, the student makes an appointment with the instructor to schedule the tutorial.
Prerequisite: Shiatsu I and II

SHIATSU SHORT FORM CLINIC – 45 hours/10 sessions

The clinic provides students with the opportunity to practice the Shiatsu kata on the public in a supervised setting. Nineteen full-body Shiatsu massages are performed on clients over the ten-week course. This training reinforces the Shiatsu kata and develops confidence, strength and efficiency. In addition, students practice listening skills and boundary setting, and learn to modify the kata to meet individual needs and time constraints. Clinic is encouraged to be taken the term following Shiatsu II. (45 CEs-NCBTMB Approved)
Prerequisite: Shiatsu II, Comm/Ethics and Path I (Path I may be concurrent)

SHIATSU III – Long From (Back) 30 hours/10 sessions

This segment of the Shiatsu training adds to the short form by teaching students more techniques and stretching routines for all the major joints and muscle groups on the back of the body. The stretches are particularly useful for stimulating the flow of qi along the channels and through joint areas. Students will practice the Dao Yin self care stretch sequence learned in the Dao Yin stretch class.
Prerequisite: Shiatsu II and Shiatsu Clinic

SHIATSU IV – Long Form (Front) 30 hours/10 sessions

This course is a continuation of Shiatsu III, where the students will learn more techniques and stretching routines for all the major joints and muscle groups on the front of the body. The course will include time for self care with the Dao-Yin stretch kata.
Prerequisite: Shiatsu III

STATUTES CLASS – 6 hours/2 sessions

This 6-hour class will introduce the student to the theories of professional regulation and the Oregon massage statute. Key provisions covered will be Ethical Standards; Scope of Practice and the Application of the Statute. It will include some discussion of regulation in Washington and other states.
Prerequisite: Communication/Ethics, Clinic (may be concurrent)