For people who find massage a rewarding job because of its hands-on approach to making others feel good, other healthcare roles could be relevant career choices. Online learning makes picking up the skills and qualifications for many healthcare roles much easier than it has ever been before. Flexible online programs allow massage specialists to continue working while broadening their career prospects.
There are many reasons that people choose massage as a career, and one of the biggest reasons that numerous people give as a benefit is the fulfilment they feel from helping others. As a massage therapist, you help to ease discomfort and pain, relieve stress, soothe tight muscles, and improve your patients’ overall physical health and mood. If those things cause you to feel strong job fulfilment, broadening your career options into other healthcare roles could be a natural progression. While this might sound like a dramatic step that takes years of effort, online education programs like the NCLEX online prep have made it much simpler for dedicated people to breach into the healthcare space.
With online learning programs, many of the old barriers to pursuing higher education later in life have been removed or, at least, reduced. You won’t need to adhere to rigid schedules or attend physical classes, and you can engage in your coursework in your own time, allowing you to continue supporting yourself without making major life sacrifices. Let’s examine why massage specialists can make a good fit in healthcare roles, and how online education is making it easier to pursue your career goals than ever before.
A Familiar Foundational Outlook
One of the big reasons that massage therapists can find transitioning into healthcare roles easy is that there is a very familiar foundational outlook that many healthcare roles share with massage therapy. You are training to have a basic understanding of both physiology and anatomy, and you should understand the importance of empathy and how beneficial it can be to form a connection with someone as you work on them. Foundational strengths that massage specialists can take into other roles include:
- Care focused on the patient: Massage therapists almost invariably work one-on-one, which is an excellent foundation to build on for many other healthcare roles.
- Knowledge of anatomy: While you might not have the same anatomical knowledge as a doctor, you will develop a good foundation of knowledge about muscles and the skeletal system. This could be particularly beneficial if you transition to a role in nursing or physical therapy.
- Communication: A big part of massage is building a rapport with the patient and getting them to relax. The importance of having a good bedside manner is something that will stand you in good stead in many different patient-facing roles in healthcare.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it is a sample size of a few of the more common or impactful skills that you might develop as a massage therapist that could help you in healthcare roles.
The Benefits of Online Learning Programs
For adults who are working full-time, going back to university isn’t really a viable choice. This is doubly true for people who might be balancing work and other responsibilities like parenting or other familial duties. However, online learning programs are designed to be undertaken primarily by adults who have busy schedules. This means that these programs expect you to continue working or fulfilling your life responsibilities while you study, and are built around this expectation. This is just one of the ways that online learning is designed to be useful. To sum up some of the other biggest advantages:
- Relatively cheap: Education isn’t free, and some university and college courses can be very pricey. When compared to on-campus options, online education is almost always significantly cheaper.
- Geographically convenient: No need to relocate for study, no need to uproot your life just to chase your goals. This also helps online education to stay affordable, with no large commuting or relocation costs associated with it.
- Flexible learning: Being able to access and engage with study when you have time allows you to continue meeting other obligations, like work.
- A large range of choices: This isn’t true for every field, but especially for healthcare roles, there are many different choices for specific degrees to undertake.
Once again, this list is by no means exhaustive. With these and other advantages, it’s easy to see why online learning is so beneficial for students looking to make career changes later in life.
Which Healthcare Roles Look Good for Massage Specialists?
While it’s true that you can transition to just about any sort of role you might be interested in, there are a few that might be more natural fits than others. These roles not only fit people with massage skills like a glove, but they are also typically offered as online courses.
Nursing
If you love working with people and taking care of them, nursing might be the next natural step for you. Many online nursing programs have clinical in-person programs that allow you to get hands-on experience as part of the program.
Physical and Occupational Therapy
Many of the things you learn as a massage specialist will serve you in good stead if you get into physical or occupational therapy. Getting into these roles might take some time as they often require a number of prerequisite competencies, but online pathways typically break down what you need and might even offer extended programs.
Allied Health Professionals
If you developed a strong ability to build rapport and exercise a good bedside manner, then getting into an allied health role could be for you. These roles include radiology and medical assistance. Just like other roles, online programs can get you skilled up for these roles relatively quickly.
Administration
You might think that getting into administration doesn’t follow as naturally, but many massage specialists run their own businesses and need to be adept at managing customer bookings and other admin duties.
Final Thoughts
Transitioning from being a massage specialist to other roles in healthcare can be a very natural progression for many people. If you love the fulfilment from helping others and building a rapport with patients, then looking for online learning pathways into healthcare roles is a viable choice for you.