MTBOK - What's Going On Right Now?

(This post originally appeared on 7/20/2009 here:   http://www.massageprofessionals.com/profiles/blogs/mtbok-whats-going-on-right)

Three weeks into the project and the Task Force is hard at work, and keeping me busy as well! You may recall that the first phase of the MTBOK development is addressing only the foundational elements. The task force is charged with developing a fully vetted (reviewed, commented upon by the stakeholders and updated to include resulting changes) MTBOK which contains the following:

- The Scope of Practice
- A description of the field
- the competencies of an entry level massage therapist expressed in terms of the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA) they must possess.

The Task Force has divided into two teams to focus on these issues, and are currently gathering data from books, job analysis data, State laws and regulations, educational institutions and allied health fields. Its a tremendously busy time for them - not only are they crashing to do this work, but since this is only a part time effort for them. They must also keep up with their normal work and family needs. If you have read their brief bios (see "Who We Are" at the http://www.mtbok.org website) you will know that they already had a lot on their plate.

Their job is complicated by an aggressive timetable so that there is time for the community to participate in and comment on the MTBOK developing content. Our goal is to have an early draft out fairly quickly to help get the community up-to-date, involved and participating. The Task Force will continue adding to their work during the comment period, and then follow up with analysis and discussion resulting from the comments they receive; then right back to work to prepare a final draft for one more review and final presentation of results in May of next year.

More on the schedule and associated activities later. Right now I want you to know that you will have opportunities to provide constructive comments and input to the process. I hope you will jump on the train to make sure this a body of knowledge built by and for the profession. We want you to be included in the process.