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Hello, Everyone. There seems to be some confusion here in the multiple uses of the phrase “body of knowledge.” A formal Body of Knowledge is being created by the MTBOK project. The way in which I was using the term “body of knowledge” in one of my responses above was not a reference to a physical document but was used to refer to “the collective corpus of information necessary to practice in the profession” which encompasses knowledge garnered from across the field. It is the complete set of concepts, terms and activities that make up the profession of massage therapy as defined by those who are a part of the profession. To avoid future confusion, I will from here onward refer to the “Massage Therapy Body of Knowledge” as the outcome of the MTBOK project. Bert is absolutely correct when he says that “I cannot understand the reasoning of developing an advanced BOK by developing an exam first.” As I stated, there is no advanced body of knowledge at this point; however, through a job task analysis process what the profession itself considers advanced practice will be defined. This WILL be done before the actual exam is written. At the start of that process, the Advanced Certification Task Force (Subject Matter Experts) will have to bring their overall advanced knowledge of the profession together to create the advanced JTA. That JTA, like its predecessor, will be made widely available (and responses will be separated through the use of screener questions) to ensure that the concepts, terms and activities they utilized was truly representative of the field and to refine the knowledge, skills and abilities for an advanced level practitioner. We cannot write an exam without this key component – this must happen first. The results from the Needs Analysis survey will be available soon, and they will show which kind of advanced exam was indicated as most needed by the profession now: “A certification centered around advanced knowledge of body sciences (including body systems) and skills that are outcome based”, “A certification centered around a specific modality (e.g. sports massage, energy work, pregnancy massage, etc.)” or “A certification centered around a specific practice setting (e.g. educational setting, clinical setting, spa and/or resort, etc.)”. I am not sure what the future may hold, but for now, I can say that we are creating an advanced certification of the type indicated as most needed by the profession. Regards, Liz

Hi, Mike. There is no advanced body of knowledge at this point. One will be created by the profession through the Job Task Analysis process for the advanced certification exam. The Job Task Analysis (JTA) is the tool used to define the knowledge, skills and abilities for which a specific exam will test, and the most recent JTA performed by the NCBTMB - and defining the knowledge, skills and abilities required for an entry level massage therapy practitioner - is available on our website. The NCETM and NCETMB were specifically designed to measure the knowledge and skills that massage and/or bodywork practitioners identified as important for safe and competent practice at the entry level. The most recent JTA report called on the expertise of more than 4,000 massage professionals and resulted in refinements to the weight of content areas for NCBTMB exams (that will be instituted in January). I hope this is helpful for you. Liz

Hi, Mike. The BOKs that currently exist for the profession are the one upon which the NCBTMBs existing exams are based and the one upon which the MBLEx is based - and the MTBOK is working on developing one. My statement does not refer to an advanced BOK - this has yet to be developed, but will be through the exam development process for the new credential. Does this help? Liz

Hi! I've tried to answer some of the questions posted by Julie, Joan and Emmanuel in my next post. Please check it out! Liz