Course in massage therapy for medical students

Massage courses for medical students have been held at Frankfurt University Medical School since 1987. To evaluate the motives for participation and to record possible changes in the attitude towards massage therapy, the students were asked to fill out a standardized questionnaire in 1990, 1993 and 1995/96. The results show that the motive for participation and the attitude towards massage therapy remained widely unchanged during these years. Summarizing all data (n = 199) the motives for participation were: (1) to practise massage therapy (86%), (2) to be better able to (later) prescribe massage therapy (66%), (3) to improve palpation skills (75%), (4) to do 'something practical' (56%), and (5) to (later) practise massage therapy as a medical doctor (23%). On average, the proportion of theory and practical instruction of 1:3.2 was considered suitable.