There’s a new color of scrubs and new students walking the campus of Wiregrass this semester, this means there is a new Allied Health program.  Spring Semester Wiregrass welcomed eleven new students into the new Neuromuscular Massage Therapist diploma program.  The program will teach students Swedish massage, musculoskeletal anatomy, identification of disease and conditions, and medial documentation.  Students will receive specialized training in nervous system pathology, postural analysis, neuromuscular therapy, muscle energy techniques, and myofascial release.  Once they graduate from this diploma program, they will be qualified to take the Massage and Bodywork Licensing Examination (MBLEx) offered by the Federation of State Massage Therapy and apply for Georgia Licensure through the Georgia Board of Massage Therapy.

Dean of Academic Affairs, DeAnnia Clements shared, “Our Neuromuscular Massage Therapist diploma program will help meet a need for the Valdosta community and our service area.  There are currently unfilled positions in our service area because we do not have a trained workforce ready to begin.  This is a program where the local growth exceeds the expected national average growth, and we want to make sure that Wiregrass is helping fill that gap with skilled neuromuscular therapists.”
 
Starla White, LMT, NMT, MMP is the program instructor and coordinator.  She shared, “Students will be able to work in an array of settings, such as spas, franchised clinics, and physicians’ offices.  The Neuromuscular Massage Therapy program emphasis is to teach comprehensive anatomy, train outstanding palpation skills, and encourage protocols that will help uncover the root causes and factors associated with pain and dysfunction while promoting a healthy lifestyle.”