I thought I’d pretty much experienced it all. As a continuing education junkie I’ve been in all sorts of learning environments in the past fifteen years – good, bad, and unremarkable – and was almost certain that there weren’t too many ways to learn that I had left to try. Well I found one earlier this year when I registered for one of Whitney Lowe’s online Orthopedic Massage workshops.

As I am sure you are well aware, Whitney is one of a handful of superior educators in the massage world. For years he has packed classrooms and sent therapists back to their practices with enhanced understanding of why the things they do actually benefit their clients.  His classes always sell out early – sometimes making it difficult to take advantage of his expertise and easy teaching styles. I admit I was more than a little skeptical when I first heard that Whitney was making online courses available. For the first half of my massage career I was one of the advocates of only face to face education involving massage therapy.  I became open to the idea that there might be a place for distance education when I re-read a book that meant absolutely nothing to me when I first began my practice and found that the experience of touching several thousand bodies made a huge difference on what can be learned from a massage therapy text. I found the book to be insightful, and I was able to assimilate many of the ideas presented in the context of already learned techniques and theory and change the way I tried to help my clients. If I was able to accomplish that from a book, I realized that distance education was much more viable than I had allowed myself to believe. But could it provide a learning experience on par with a face-to-face workshop?

Whitney’s course did not disappoint! I can honestly say that it was one of the best courses I have ever taken – online or “live!”  I had some initial concerns that the technology of an online course would get in the way of learning.  This was certainly not so – if you can type a letter or send an email you have the requisite skills!  In many ways the course actually surpassed its equivalent ‘in-house’ workshop.  Foremost in this was the fact that the course was spread over six weeks. There was ample time to integrate all the learned activities into my actual practice activities since both were happening concurrently.  I was also encouraged to talk in class!  There are built-in online forums designed for class members to interact and discuss class scenarios.  I found this ability to talk through my initial thoughts to be very valuable. Most welcome was the fact that there was plenty of time to go back to pick up something that might have been missed. In many face-to-face workshops I found myself frustrated either by another student’s incessant off topic questions which kept me from being exposed to all the material the instructor planned on covering – or the fact that I had many questions and time did not allow for me to get all of them answered.  The format of this online course solved both problems! Since they were all written, I could choose to ignore questions not relevant for me and I could delve deeper into the areas needed to grasp understanding or that were simply of more interest. It seemed as if Whitney was there, on his computer, 24 hours per day. He was always available to me throughout the course!

I cannot encourage you enough to try one of Whitney’s online courses.  They are state-of-the-art and model distance learning best practices.  The primary course work is delivered through innovative case studies that give you real-life methods to immediately apply what you are learning to your clinical practice. If you are looking to enhance the ability to evaluate and treat the numerous soft-tissue pathologies that present daily in your practice, look no further.

Cliff Korn,
New Hampshire

“It has far exceeded any expectations I might have had. I assumed that it would be good, as I had heard great things about Whitney, read his books, etc., but I wasn¹t sure about the “e” format for studying massage.

The case studies and clinical questions are designed to make us think about the importance of taking a thorough case history, how/why/when we apply orthopedic testing, kinesiology (this part has been particularly enlightening), nerve involvement, etc. Whitney has designed the curriculum to meet the needs of practitioners coming in with varying backgrounds/years of experience, with layers of complexity that you might either obsess over or ignore, depending on your interests.

Three great aspects of this course and learning mode are (1) you can apply information immediately (in your practice), (2) you have access to Whitney’s mind on a daily basis for both course and work-related questions, and (3) you have six weeks to deal with increasing complexities of information rather than a dizzying weekend (e.g., there is time to process and figure out what you don¹t really understand, get clarification, apply the information, etc. . . . you also become more aware of what you do not know and have yet to learn).

I feel like my other continuing education courses were my 100-levels preparing me for this course. . . now I am in graduate school.”

Carolyn Ehringhaus, Ph.D., LMT, NCTMB
Maine

“The OM1 E-learning course is easily accessible with as little as a dial-up connection, and available 24/7. I was able to spend time on the course before, during and after my 6-day work week. The course material is well-written and well-thought out. You can print all of it, if it is easier for you to read at your own convenience or have limited on-line time. Whitney’s text books are also used in tandem with the program and are the best books I have read on Orthopedic Massage. Whitney is a very, knowledgeable and patient teacher; he is available to answer all of your questions without hesitation. The course itself teaches you better problem determination and assessment skills in evaluating your client’s condition. You learn to think outside the box of palpation and learn to utilize other assessment skills and techniques for a more accurate assessment. I appreciate the convenience of this on-line course, and not having to shut down my business for a 3-day off-site course or to spend money on traveling. I recommend the Orthopedic Massager E-learning course to any MT who wishes to take a high-quality course from an industry leader, and work on your own time schedule.”

Gail Russo, LBMT
North Carolina