Concorde Staff
Studies have shown getting a massage to be an effective means of stress reduction - and relieving stress is more than a luxury; it's essential for continued health.
The secret has gotten out! It's one of the contributing factors to the Bureau of Labor Statistics projecting a 26% growth in the massage therapy field through 2026.
As part of Concorde Career College's commitment to helping the communities around them, two of our campuses Concorde in Memphis and Concorde in Southaven offer Massage Therapy services to the public at a fraction of the traditional cost, while giving our massage therapy students great hands-on experience!
Memphis Massage Therapy Clinic
Gregory Reeves, BCTMS, LMT, and Massage Therapy Program Director at Concorde-Memphis campus took the time to sit down and talk about the clinic and program. Here is what he had to say:
Q: What is your role at Concorde?
A: As program director at this point in the program I have several hats I wear: Coach- helping to ensure that the students are prepared to take and pass their national exam, Cheerleader- helping them see that while the road has been tough they are almost at the finish line and my main role is that of Proud Papa- seeing how far the students have come.
I have an amazing Clinic Coordinator, Marie Truitt, who handles the day to day operation of the clinic; making appointments, providing guidance, and making sure the students learn and grow as much as they can in this real-world setting to ultimately prepare them for when they leave the program.
Q: How does the clinic work?
A: [This term], all clinics are held on Mondays and Wednesdays. The actual appointment times vary with the class that we have in the clinic at the time.
For example, our morning class is currently in the clinic so we call that rotation 1 and our appointment times are 8:30 am, 9:45 am, and 11:30 am and we will be on that schedule until they graduating at the beginning of June.
As the morning class graduates, our afternoon class will come into the clinic on rotation 2, and their appointment times will be 1:30 pm, 2:45 pm, and 4:30 pm, which will continue until their graduation and finally our evening class will move into Rotation 3 in mid-July with appointment times at 6:00 pm, 7:15 pm, and 9 pm.
This will continue until their program completion at the end of September. Then, we won't have a class in the clinic until spring when the next morning class enters their final term.
Q: What is the cost?
A: Patients are charged $20 for a one hour massage.
Q: How many people does the clinic see a week?
A: The number of people we see each week for full massages can vary tremendously based solely on the number of students we have in the class. Appointments are made by email and we have over 500 people on our email list. We tend to book quickly. In regards to the number of people, we have free chair massages each week, I would say a conservative estimate of 100 (not counting the people who get more than one chair massage a week or even a day).
Q: What do you mean when you say "free chair massages"?
A: Each clinic session, we have students in the clinic doing the full-body massages, but we also have students assigned to doing free chair massages in the main hallway outside the massage clinic.
This is a rotating basis, so each week the students will move through the positions. The chair massages are done on a walk-up basis. Each massage lasts 5-7 minutes and is available to every Concorde student, staff member, or anyone else who happens to come through the building.
Typically, we have two massage therapy students doing chair massages. They can see easily 40 people a day [each] for the free chair massage. Multiply that by two people, two days a week, and we are looking at about 150-160 people taking advantage of the free chair each week.
Q: What is your favorite thing about the clinic?
A: Watching the students change their perspective of themselves. They change from seeing themselves just as a massage student to truly being a "massage therapist" while working with the public that comes to our clinic. For some, I think it gives them that extra bit of drive to pass their national exam and get their license because they know what it feels like to do the "real" work and not just working on each other in the class.
Q: Do you have any memorable stories from the clinic?
A: The clinic is always a fun time, many of the other departments greatly enjoy the free chair massage that we provide in our main hallway during every clinic. I won't name names, but I have seen staff members literally race down the hall to get a chair massage before we close it down for the day. Just to further paint a picture, have you ever seen a game of musical chairs, and there is only one chair left? Yep, that.
Q: Any final thoughts about the clinic you'd like to share?
A: Come see us! To get more information or to make an appointment with our massage clinic, visit our services page! Remember the massages are $20 for an hour, as soon as these students pass their exams and get their licenses they will probably be charging $75! You're getting a major bargain! Oh, and we do sell gift certificates as well.
Come See Us
If you are ever in the Memphis or Southaven area and are looking for a massage to relieve the stress feel free to reach out to Concorde Career Colleges Massage Therapy Clinic. If you would like to learn more about how to become a massage therapist or other health care careers at Concorde, contact us today!
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