Hands-on Learning from a Distance

There is no profession more hands-on than massage therapy. But now, for the first time at Otago Polytechnic, it is also something that can be done from a distance.

The School of Social Services’ Diploma of Advanced Therapeutic Massage (Level 6) went online this year, in a move which makes the programme available to people living outside of Dunedin and which makes it easier to study part-time.

Programme Coordinator David McQuillan describes the genesis of the changes to the programme:

“I started getting inquiries from people living in places like Central Otago and Queenstown about training with us and I had to tell them there was really no way we could do that. Then I started thinking, ‘Actually, why not?’

The programme has been redesigned so that full-time students need to be in Dunedin once every three weeks for a 3 or 4-day block in which they learn practical skills they can then practice on their classmates, clients, friends or family, and the theoretical component of the course is now taught and assessed completely online.

Part-time students can also now study anywhere from 50 to the full 1200 hours over the course of the year, which David says makes it an ideal option for practicing therapists looking to up-skill, or to complete the professional development hours required of them every year.

This year’s students have ranged from a Cromwell resident to a student living in Auckland, who is studying theory online and shifting to Dunedin next year to complete the practical component of the programme.

David is passionate about massage therapy, and believes changes that make it easier for people to move into the industry have to be a positive thing.

“It’s satisfying work”, he says, “because you’re working with people all the time, and you’re working with them in a really positive way, trying to help improve their quality of life.”