The following guidelines are NOT exhaustive.  They are intended to direct, not limit, the ability of a member to successfully complete the MTAS competency requirements.  

Credit activities are to be recorded in the electronic member database and office paper files, and members must also maintain a personal record of all credit activities.

PRIMARY CREDIT ACTIVITIES
Activities in the primary category are directly related to the Scope of Practice.

MTAS Scope of Practice, as stated in the Association Bylaws:
"The practice of massage therapy is the assessment of the soft tissue and joints of the body and the treatment and prevention of physical dysfunction and pain of the soft tissues and joints by mobilization and other manual methods to develop, maintain, rehabilitate or augment physical function, or relieve pain."

Topics for primary credits as directly related to the MTAS Scope of Practice would include, but are not limited to, the following (1 credit per 1 hour of study):

• Anatomy
• Assessment
• Charting skills
• Ethics
• Massage techniques, theory and treatments           
• Medical terminology
• Pathology  
• Physiology  

  
Modalities/subjects within Scope of Practice include, but are not limited to:

• Active Release
• Acupressure
• Cranial Sacral Therapy including Unwinding
• Deep Tissue Therapy
• Fascial Stretch Therapy
• Hot Stone Therapy (assessed on course content-some courses may not be eligible)
• Infant Massage
• Pregnancy Massage
• Integrative Manual Therapy
• Joint Mobilization
• Lomi Lomi
• Manual Lymph Drainage
• Muscle Energy
• Myofascial Release
• Neuromuscular Therapy
• Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF stretching)
• Rolfing
• Shiatsu
• Sports Massage (including athletic taping and bracing)
• Strain/Counter Strain
• Structural Integration
• Swedish Massage
• Thai Massage
• Therapeutic Exercise (assessed on course content-some courses may not be eligible)
• Trigger Point Therapy
• Visceral Manipulation

All other modalities are subject to approval by the Competency Committee.

CPR/First Aid: There are several options available for obtaining CPR/First Aid requirements, including Canadian Red Cross and St. John’s Ambulance.  A variety of private companies also offer the training.  Check your local Yellow Pages under First Aid. 

Standard First Aid and CPR Level “C” are mandatory requirements for your profession.  You are required to maintain up-to-date standards in this area in order to maintain our agreements with SGI and WCB, therefore members are responsible to ensure their certification is not allowed to lapse.  This is not an area that directly affects your skills as massage therapists and, as such, is not “continuing education” in the field of the work that you do.  However, MTAS currently allows existing continuing education credits for this course (5 primary credits per window).  A copy of the certificates must be submitted to the MTAS office upon renewal.  Re-certification is only required as directed by the First Aid/CPR provider – every three years.   Note that if you choose to take the full course instead of the re-certification, or to recertify multiple time during the window, you will not be granted additional credits.  If you allow your SFA/CPR certification to lapse for any reason, your membership will be suspended until we receive your proof of re-certification.

NOTE: Fully on-line courses and U.S. courses are not permitted as they are not recognized by Sask. Occupational Health and Safety.  Canadian Red Cross and St. John's Ambulance now offer a blended learning program, combining practical hands-on certification with an on-line theoretical component.

Primary activities include:

• Attending workshops, seminars or courses relevant to the Scope of Practice (includes on-line or correspondence courses).
• Presenting workshops, seminars or courses relevant to the Scope of Practice (including preparation time to the first time the presentation is made).
• Participating on Committees of the Association that are relevant to the Scope of Practice.
• Obtaining MTAS examiner training accreditation, working as a peer assessor, subject matter expert or investigator for the Association.
• Conducting or collaborating in formal research with intent to publish results that are relevant to the Scope of Practice.
• Reviewing books, articles or videos that are relevant to the Scope of Practice.

Primary activities are to be recorded in the member database and/or paper files. 
Members should keep a personal record copy of all primary activities.

BUSINESS CREDITS

This is a new credit category, effective November 1st, 2012.  The change has been made to bring the MTAS competency system into line with the Inter-Jurisdictional Entry-to-Practice Competency Profile for Massage Therapists, developed by the Consortium of Massage Therapy Regulators.  Adherence to this profile will allow transition into the Agreement on Internal Trade on labour mobility when legislated. 

• MTAS AGM attendance
• MTAS jurisprudence quiz (not yet available)
• Chamber of Commerce events  
• Financial institution seminars
• Sask. Polytech business classes   
• Technical college business classes
• University business classes
• Meetings with financial planners, accountants, business consultants, tax advisors, etc. to discuss your practice.

May include, but not limited to:

• Accounting  
• Administration
• Advertising and promotion
• Book-keeping
• Business law
• Business planning
• Coaching skills
• Commerce
• Communications
• Computer applications
• Conflict resolution
• Customer service and client relations
• Data processing
• Decision-making
• E-commerce
• Economics
• Financial planning
• Human resources
• Investments
• Jurisprudence and compliance
• Labour relations
• Leadership
• Management
• Marketing
• Negotiation
• Organizational behaviour
• Organizational theory
• Policy development
• Problem-solving
• Public relations
• Sales techniques
• Statistics
• Strategic planning
• Taxation
• Website design
• Writing skills
 

Courses taken for business credits do not have to be pre-approved by the Competency Committee.  Members may take any classes, courses or workshops of personal interest that are related to business; however a certificate of attendance or letter from the course provider must be uploaded to your con-ed file on the website for credit recording purposes.  This should state at least the course name, completion date, and number of hours of attendance. 

Please note that receipts are NOT considered proof of attendance.