Looking for beta testers for continuing education program

I'm looking for beta testers for a 24-hour program of continuing education (CE), designed to meet the 2-year requirements for CE for massage license renewal in Washington state, as specified in WAC 246-830-475.

"Beta tester" just means that, since this is the first time the program is offered, you'll be asked to evaluate it especially closely, and you'll get a discount on the course price to recognize your evaluation efforts. You won't need to repeat the course based on any feedback; it is already valid Washington state massage CE. Your feedback will help me add value to the course, but you won't have to go to any additional effort for the full credit to count toward license renewal.

The program consists of:

• 8 direct-contact hours supervised massage skills training in a real-life clinical environment;
• 4 direct-contact hours in clinical applications of professional ethics, communication, and Washington state massage laws and regulations, including professional roles and boundaries;
• 12 hours e-learning/online electives of your choice, including choosing among the following courses.

Adaptive Massage Therapy (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12-hour options: courses must be taken in the order listed)

1. Adapting Massage Therapy to Clients' Needs—Introduction, Legal Considerations and Scope of Practice (2 hours)
2. Adapting Massage Therapy to Clients' Needs—Safety (2 hours)
3. Adapting Massage Therapy to Clients' Needs—Cultural Considerations (2 hours)
4. Adapting Massage Therapy to Clients' Needs—Transfer (2 hours)
5. Adapting Massage Therapy to Clients' Needs—Dressing and Undressing (2 hours)
6. Adapting Massage Therapy to Clients' Needs—Wheelchair and Bed Massage (2 hours)

Office and Clinical Operations for Mainstream Professional Healthcare Massage Therapy (2 hours)

Pain Science and Massage Therapy (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12-hour options: courses must be taken in the order listed)

1. Foundational Neuroscience for Pain-Science Literate Massage Therapy—Introduction (2 hours)
2. Foundational Neuroscience for Pain-Science Literate Massage Therapy—How the Senses Work (2 hours)
3. Foundational Neuroscience for Pain-Science Literate Massage Therapy—How Pain Works (2 hours)
4. Foundational Neuroscience for Pain-Science Literate Massage Therapy—Adaptation to the Changing Environment, Professional and Personal (2 hours)
5. Foundational Neuroscience for Pain-Science Literate Massage Therapy—Supporting What Massage Has to Offer Clients Living with Chronic Pain (2 hours)
6. Foundational Neuroscience for Pain-Science Literate Massage Therapy—Trauma and Chronic Pain (2 hours)

Professionalization of Massage Therapy in the 21st century (2, 4, or 6-hour options: courses must be taken in the order listed)

1. Introduction to Professionalization of Massage Therapy: The 5 Commitments of Client/Patient-Centered Healthcare Professionals (2 hours)
2. Massage Therapy as an Interdisciplinary Healthcare Profession (2 hours)
3. Interdisciplinary Professional Teamwork (2 hours)

Self-Care: A Professional Duty for Members of the Client/Patient-Centered Healthcare Team (2 hours)

Trauma-Aware Massage Therapy (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12-hour options: courses must be taken in the order listed)

1. Massage for Survivors of Military Sexual Trauma
2. Massage for Survivors of War, Torture, and Genocide
3. Massage for Clients Living with PTSD
4. Massage for Clients Living with TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury)
5. What Massage Therapists Need to Know About Gender, Culture, Trauma, and PTSD
6. Recognizing Mental Health Emergencies: What Massage Therapists Need to Know About Suicide Prevention

Vulnerable/Underserved Populations and Massage Therapy (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12-hour options: courses may be taken in any desired order)

• Working with Diverse Communities in Seattle: Massage in Southeast Asian Cultures
• Working with Diverse Communities in Seattle: Massage in East African Cultures
• Cross-Cultural Responsiveness: Military Culture for Massage Therapists
• Cross-Cultural Responsiveness: Refugee Experiences
• Massage for Children Living with Cerebral Palsy
• Massage for Children Living with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

The first 30 qualified beta testers will complete 24 hours of massage CE tailored to meet the requirements of WAC 246-830-475 between October 2016 and December 2018 for $100.00.

To count as a "qualified" beta tester, you must have a valid and unencumbered Washington state LMP license, and current liability insurance through a reputable major carrier. Your license and insurance will be verified when you sign up as a beta tester, and it will be verified again before any contact with the public in any clinical direct massage skills class. You must be able to attend 12 hours of clinical classes and ethics classes in the Seattle metro area in person sometime between October 2016 and December 2018. If this sounds like an opportunity that you would like to act on, email me at raven.massage.ce@gmail.com, and let's start the discussion.

Details of massage continuing education beta tester program

Potential blockers to consider before signing up:

If you need all 24 hours CE to renew your license by, say, November 1, 2016, then we can't turn this around fast enough, and you shouldn't sign up for that purpose. You are still welcome to participate in the program to fulfill your licensing requirements for the period after that one.

There will be one 8-hour clinical in November, and one 8-hour clinical in December. Beginning in January 2017, there will be options to choose among more than one clinical per month.

The exception to that rule about multiple clinicals per month in 2017 is June, July, and August 2017, where there will be no clinicals in WA or anywhere in the US, as I am planning to be in Southeast Asia then.

Clinical experiences in Burma, Cambodia, Haiti, and Vietnam are not included in the beta tester program.

Sign-up (through October 31, 2016)

All of the action items are required for every beta tester.
 
Beta tester action items

1. Provide valid and unencumbered WA state license (can't do clinicals without it) ("unencumbered" means you must have no current disciplinary actions attached to it, nor any restrictions from any past disciplinary actions)
2. Provide proof of current professional insurance against liability and malpractice
3. Provide license renewal date for planning 
4. Promise that you can be in the Seattle area for 12 hours of in-person direct-contact CE (clinicals and ethics training) between October 2016 and December 2018 
5. Promise that you have the computer equipment and Internet connection robust enough to participate in watching learning videos and participating in Skype or Google hangout discussions in real time. If you are unsure whether your setup is robust enough or not, I can provide you with information and materials to test it. 
6. Pay $100.00 beta tester fee   

My action items

1. Verify all information provided 
2. Start student file, learning portfolio, and transcripts 
3. Provide unique ID number for use in privacy protection for online discussion and polls 
4. Propose a customized plan for meeting license renewal date with 24 hours of CE to each beta tester, and revise each plan as appropriate, based on beta testers' feedback and preferences, until plan is mutually satisfactory 
5. Send out progress reminders (weekly or monthly, according to beta testers' individual preferences

Online courses contain knowledge that you need for application in the clinic, so many of the clinical courses will have online prerequisites that you need to complete first. These prerequisites will be spelled out clearly in the description of the clinical. In addition, every month (except June, July, and August 2017, when I will be out of the country), there will be at least one clinical offered that does not require any online prerequisites, and those clinicals can be signed up for, independent of the online courses.

First beta-tester task: Organize the order of production of online courses

All tasks are work that I am providing the classes at such a steep discount for, so participation is required in all tasks, in order to remain in the beta tester program.

My action items

• Send out a reminder on October 31, 2016 that voting for the order of courses offered begins November 1 at 12:01 AM PT and closes November 8 at 11:59 PM PT. Include a link to survey for voting.

Beta tester action items

• Using your unique ID provided at registration, vote for the order in which you'd like to see the courses developed and offered online.

Second beta-tester task: Work the plan we agree on for your CE progress

Life happens, and I expect that we will make changes to the plan as we work it, and as things become necessary to change or move around. However, the plan ends in December, 2018, and so even modified plans must be completed by December 31.

I'll verify your license and insurance information again before every clinical, to be sure that nothing's changed since registration before you perform clinical work on the public. You must have insurance and a valid, unencumbered license to perform a public clinic; there can be no exceptions to this rule.

Final beta-tester task: Complete a detailed evaluation of your assessment of how the program went for you.

I'll use your feedback to make changes and improvements to the program, which will then be offered at full price to future students.

I've tried to think of everything that might come up, but I'm sure that I've probably left things out. For any further information or clarification, please feel free to mail me at raven.massage.ce@gmail.com .

I'll look forward to hearing from you!