Oregon Massage Therapy Schools - OR

All but a few states require massage therapists to earn a license.  In Oregon, massage school establishes a practitioners capabilities and allows him or her to be granted state licensure. This is done in part to ensure a minimum level of qualification and professionalism, and to strongly segregate legitimate massage therapists from illicit activities that advertise as “massage.”

Like most states, Oregon is suffering from the recent economic downturn. As a result, Governor Kulongoski has proposed suspending the state’s licensing body, the Board of Massage Therapists, along with other boards and commissions. The Oregon Massage Therapy Association (OMTA) is in the vanguard fighting this change. They maintain that the Board is self-funding from fees paid by license applicants, and that though Oregon might stop issuing licenses, legitimate massage therapists would be unable to practice in the state, since the suspension of the board would not legate the laws regarding massage therapy licensing or even the programs offered by massage therapy schools in Oregon.

As of late 2009, the Board is still sitting and no laws have been changed. The Board still conducts criminal background checks on all license applicants, hears complaints against licensed practitioners and assesses fines against unlicensed massage therapists. However, the Board will undergo some required furloughs and closures during 2010 and 2011 in a cost-saving effort.

Through campus based and online programs, aspiring Massage Therapists in Portland, Salem, Eugene and Gresham, Oregon may be able to prepare themselves for the possibility of employment in some of the largest hospitals and healthcare facilities in the state including the Providence Saint Vincent Medical Center, Oregon Health & Science University Hospital, Sacred Heart Medical Center and Salem Hospital.