Students: Learn (and REMEMBER) Your Anatomy!!!

[unumeMuck]

As an employer, I get to interview MTs and find out what they really know. I am continually astounded by how many MTs have forgotten basic musculoskeletal anatomy. They can palpate and find "stuff" but they really don't know what they're dealing with.

I understand that some schools don't place as much emphasis on A&P (anatomy and physiology) as others, but that doesn't get you off the hook. If you intend to work with bodies, you should know your way around and be able to identify the tissues you are working with. This goes especially for new graduates. If you just passed your classes, all the A&P you learned should be fresh in your mind and connecting to your fingertips.

I've received many resumes from new MTs that mention having "a good touch" and "exceptional intuition" as qualifications... *yawn*. Having "a good touch" isn't such an uncommon thing. LOTS of MTs have a GREAT "touch" and most of us are highly intuitive. But a new MT that has those AND a solid grasp of palpatory anatomy... THAT will get you some attention!

 

[m_iqbal_hussain]

Students: Learn (and REMEMBER) Your Anatomy!!!

I agree it's important to remember - and my school placed a lot of emphasis on the anatomy and physiology.

However, I've found since I started working my anatomy is much stronger. Maybe it was just my school but A&P was almost a separate entity from the practical part of school. The two really were never brought together in class. We were either learning technique hands on, or learning A&P in a classroom setting. Never really did much hands on body-work while learning anatomy.

Would have been great to have hands on anatomy class with a body on the table. Finding a muscle on a diagram and labeling it is one thing - finding it on an actual body is another, or for me it was anyways. Some muscles are obvious - but some of the smaller ones or in areas of the body where there are several in the same general area, were difficult for me to palpate and feel confident I knew exactly which muscle I could feel.

If any students are struggling to bring the two together - grab a guinea pig and get them on the floor or a massage table, chair, wherever - grab some diagrams and pictures and start poking and prodding, palpating each muscle. Heck, grab some washable markers if you have to and make a human diagram (if your guinea pig is willing!)

I think it's important to have a strong understanding of your muscles before going out to work - it could be VERY easy to lose your anatomy once you're out in the field working, depending where you work. I actively go through muscle names while I am working on someone - but if I didn't I could see in a few years or even less, losing a lot of the exact names and such.

 

[tracie]

Students: Learn (and REMEMBER) Your Anatomy!!!

The school I attended included A&P review during massage technique classes too. We learned to find our bony landmarks, specific muscles, attachments, fiber directions, etc. on a living body. To demonstrate understanding, we sometimes had to draw the structures on our partners so our instructors could double-check and correct us as needed. Anatomical models were also often placed on or next to a living body so we could better visualize the structures within while we were working. Once it was clear that we knew what (and where) we were working, we'd proceed with technique training and practice. That experience really helped connect A&P to my work, and has been invaluable ever since.

If you didn't get a good feel for how your massage techniques connect with A&P in school, continue studying. There is a vast wealth of instructional material available, much of it for little/no cost. Simply working through the exploratory palpation exercises in Biel's Trail Guide to the Body is fabulously helpful. Following a massage, check your references to clarify exactly what you were working on/with and see what else you may have missed or forgotten.

We never have an excuse to stop learning.