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Become a Certified Medical Massage Practitioner (CMMP)

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Science of Medical Massage Institute (SOMI)

STRUCTURE OF SOMI’S CMMP CERTIFICATION PROGRAM

Question 1: What are the steps in the Medical Massage Certification Program?

For CMMP certification, therapists will need to accumulate the following training:

1. One Day of Medical Massage Theory in live seminar or webinar format (8 hours). We require the theory day to be taken twice (16 hours).

2. One Day of Medical Massage Techniques. This class is hands-on training in applying basic Medical Massage Techniques used in Medical Massage Protocols (8 hours).

3. Nine one-day hands-on training sessions (72 hours total) in the clinical application of different Medical Massage Protocols. Therapists may choose from the following topics:

• Piriformis Muscle Syndrome/Sciatica, aka “Key to the Lower Extremity.”
• Anterior Scalene Muscle Syndrome/Thoracic Outlet, aka “The Silent Killer.”
• Rotator Cuff Syndrome/Subacromial Bursitis, aka “Elusive Shoulder Pain.”
• TMJ Dysfunction and Positioning Vertigo
• Osteoarthritis (OA)
• Soft Tissue Trauma/Leg Compartment Syndromes and Plantar Fasciitis
• Cervical Pain/Trapezius and Levator Scapulae Syndromes, aka “Cervical Tragedy.”
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Golfer’s or Tennis Elbow
• Chronic Headaches
• Chronic Middle Back Pain, Intercostal Nerve Neuralgia, aka “Mid-Thoracic Failure”
• Chronic Lower Back Pain, aka “Lumbago/Joker of Pain.”
• Pectoralis Major and Minor Muscle Syndrome (aka False Cardialgia)
• Iliopsoas Muscle Syndrome (aka Hidden Prankster)

4. Patient’s Evaluation class (4 hours), face-to-face with Dr. Ross Turchaninov; see the description below.

5. Ask and Show class (4 hours), face-to-face with Dr. Ross Turchaninov; see the description below.

For each day of hands-on training, we select one or two Medical Massage Protocols from the 70 available from Medical Massage Volume I and SOMI’s Video Library. Sometimes a day of training includes two topics. In that case, therapists learn two different protocols, but the day still counts as one 8-hour day for CE hours.

Choose your own schedule for taking the next seminar. We do not have a required time frame and would like therapists to practice and move forward with the next Medical Massage Protocol when ready.

Question 2: What is the “Patient’s Evaluation” class?

It is a 4-hour face-to-face class with Dr. Ross Turchaninov (2 students maximum). The class is set up as a step-by-step evaluation of virtual patients presented by Dr. Ross. Please follow the links below and read the Video Library articles to prepare for the class.

1. The Science of Visual Observation: https://www.scienceofmassage.com/2015/04/the-science-of-visual-evaluation/

2. The Science of Clinical Interview: https://www.scienceofmassage.com/2012/01/science-of-clinical-interview/

3. The Science of Palpation:

• Part I: https://www.scienceofmassage.com/2015/11/science-of-palpation-part-i/
• Part II: https://www.scienceofmassage.com/2016/03/science-palpation-part-ii-skin-connective-tissue-zones/
• Part III: https://www.scienceofmassage.com/2016/06/palpation-soft-tissue-middle-layers/
• Part IV: https://www.scienceofmassage.com/2016/09/science-palpation-part-iv-deep-palpation-soft-tissues/

Therapists must print and bring 4 Clinical Evaluation Forms to the class. They can be found here:

https://www.scienceofmassage.com/dnn/som/journal/1201/FORM.pdf

We highly encourage you to take the Patient’s Evaluation class as soon as you have completed at least one day of Theory, one day of Medical Massage Techniques, and at least one Medical Massage Protocol. This will help you better understand the clinical application of Medical Massage Protocols.

Please contact the Director of Services at julia@scienceofmassage.com or (602) 404-1583 to schedule the Patient’s Evaluation class. The tuition fee is $400, paid by cash, check, or credit card at the time of the class.

Question 3: What is the “Ask and Show” class?

The final step in SOMI’s certification program is a 4-hour face-to-face class with Dr. Ross called “Ask and Show.”

You bring 3-4 clinical cases involving clients or patients for whom you applied Medical Massage Protocols but did not achieve the desired clinical results. You present the cases to Dr. Ross and work together to find the missing pieces of the puzzle.

This class is usually scheduled before or after the last Medical Massage Protocol you must take. The tuition fee is $400 for the 4-hour class.

We try to coordinate this with your last seminar to save as much travel and time as possible. Both Patient’s Evaluation and Ask and Show are usually held on Fridays, the day before a seminar, or Mondays, the day after a weekend seminar.

Question 4: Where do I access SOMI’s seminar information?

Please visit our seminar webpage: https://www.scienceofmassage.com/seminars/. Click the Register button for a seminar to see details about its program, location, and tuition payment.

Question 5: How long will it take me to earn my CMMP certification?

That varies with each candidate. We have found that the most effective way to integrate this material is to allow enough time between classes to practice and absorb the information. The shortest time in which a former student completed the program was seven months, while some therapists took three years. We are looking for quality clinical education.

Question 6: What are the costs of SOMI’s Medical Massage Certification Program?

The whole program is 104 hours, including:

• Medical Massage Theory (16 hours)
• Medical Massage Techniques (8 hours)
• 9 Medical Massage Protocols (72 hours total)
• Patient’s Evaluation (4 hours)
• Ask and Show (4 hours)

The total cost for these 104 hours is $3,020.00.

Question 7: Who is welcome?

All therapists with Massage Therapy licenses and current students of Massage Therapy schools are welcome. NCBTMB approves all our seminars, and we also work with CE Broker in states that require it.

Question 8: When will my certificate be presented?

We will present your 11×14-inch CMMP certificate during the last seminar you attend if the CMMP requirements have been met and your classes with Dr. Ross are complete.

Your certificate will be presented during that weekend of training in front of the class, with applause for your hard work and an explanation of your outstanding accomplishments.

We greatly appreciate all therapists who share a passion for our wonderful profession and would like to return Medical Massage therapy to American medicine.

We are proud of all SOMI alumni working throughout the United States, helping patients in complex clinical situations, restoring their health, and giving them their lives back.

For more information about the CMMP program, contact us:

Email: julia@scienceofmassage.com
Phone: (602) 404-1583

 

                   Here is a diagram of SOMI’s Medical Massage Certification Program. Please click on each box to find out more about its content:

 

 

Theory

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Patient’s Evaluation

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MM
Techniques

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MM
Protocol
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Protocol
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MM
Protocol
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MM
Protocol
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Theory

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MM
Protocol
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MM
Protocol
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MM
Protocol
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Ask & Show

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Protocol
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MM
Protocol
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SOMI reserves the right not to grant the CMMP Certificate if a student did not show proper experience and execution of training techniques in practicing MM. In such a case, graduation can be postponed letting the student accumulate enough clinical expertise.

Graduating from our Medical Massage Certification program is just the beginning of your exciting clinical journey. Certification means that you can now accumulate individual clinical experience using a science-based clinical approach we provided you as a foundation. 

Following graduation from SOMI, we continue to provide our alumni with support and guidance on complex clinical cases they may encounter as they develop and scale up their Medical Massage practice.

For a List of Medical Massage Seminars conducted by Dr. Ross Turchaninov, please click here: https://www.scienceofmassage.com/seminars/ and for Dr. Jeff Cullers’ seminars, please click here: https://www.spartances.com.

Dr. ROSS TURCHANINOV’S BIO

I graduated from Odessa Medical Institute, named N.I. Pirogov, in 1983. After graduation from medical school, I was accepted into the special residency program at the Kiev Institute of Orthopedics. This program gave the participants a unique opportunity to start their Ph.D. work at the same time while finishing their residency. Kiev Institute of Orthopedics is Ukraine’s largest orthopedic and rehabilitation hospital and a world-known research facility. The most complex clinical cases from the entire country are sent there. I finished my clinical residency in 1985.

I do research (I have published over 100 articles in medical journals), lecture, and wrote three books that were very well received by the massage, physical therapy, chiropractic, and medical communities. On many occasions, I was invited to lecture on medical massage in hospitals. I presented the same topic during the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Pain Management, Barrow Neurological Institute, Mayo Clinic, etc.

At the same time, I practice medical massage in a clinic in Arizona. 90% of my patients are referred to the clinic by local physicians I am working with. We deal with many patients in the clinic, from impotence (see the case in the August/June of 2010 issue of JMS) to debilitating headaches and spinal stenosis. Traditional medicine gave up on many of these patients. 

 

Testimonial

 

Medical massage therapy has been extremely helpful in helping me and my patients in the treatment of multiple musculoskeletal ailments. Some of my patients have visited multiple chiropractors and pain doctors without being able to regain full function or achieve adequate pain relief. After a few treatments and the exercises prescribed by Dr. Ross, my patients were able to get pain relief and improve their quality of life. I myself am a patient of Dr. Ross who treats my acute back pain exacerbations. After just one treatment I am back to work. I highly recommend Dr. Ross who has more than 30 years of experience in relieving and treating acute and chronic musculoskeletal conditions.

Dr. Izabela A Musial MD