Training for clinical and therapeutic masseurs

> Access

• age of not less than 17 years
• physical and mental fitness (blindness is not an obstacle to entry)
• good character
• successful completion of the ninth school grade

> Programme

Aufschulungsmodul (Ausbildung zum/zur Heilmasseur/in)

• Theoretischer Unterricht/Unterrichtsfächer: Recht und Ethik; Anatomie und Physiologie; Pathologie; Hygiene und Umweltschutz; Erste Hilfe; Allgemeine Physik; Kommunikation; Dokumentation; Massagetechniken zu Heilzwecken (Krankheitsbilder aus den klinischen Bereichen: Chirurgie, Unfallchirurgie, Sportmedizin, Orthopädie, Innere Medizin, Rheumatologie, Gynäkologie, Pädiatrie, Neurologie, Psychiatrie, Intensivmedizin, Geriatrie)

• Praktische Übungen: Massagetechniken zu Heilzwecken

Module A (training for clinical masseurs)

Theoretical instruction/subjects: anatomy and physiology; hygiene; first aid and wound dressing; pathology; thermotherapy, ultrasound therapy and pack applications; therapeutic massage techniques.

Module B (training for clinical masseurs)

• Theoretical instruction/subjects: health, labour and social security legislation; professions and institutions in the field of health care; documentation; environmental protection; pathology; introduction to communication; therapeutic massage techniques, including in-depth knowledge of special anatomy and pathology.
• Practical exercises: various types of thermotherapy, such as ultrasound therapy or pack applications; massage techniques (classic massage, manual lymphatic drainage, reflex therapy and combinations thereof) with particular reference to diseases and conditions from the clinical areas of surgery, accident surgery, orthopaedics, rheumatology and geriatrics.

Additional module (training for therapeutic masseurs)

• Theoretical instruction/subjects: law and ethics; anatomy and physiology; pathology; hygiene and environmental protection; first aid; general physics; communication; documentation; massage techniques for therapeutic purposes (diseases and conditions from the clinical areas of surgery, accident surgery, sports medicine, orthopaedics, internal medicine, rheumatology, gynaecology, paediatrics, neurology, psychiatry, intensive care, geriatrics).
• Practical exercises: therapeutic massage techniques.

> Job description / field of activities

Clinical masseurs
• classic massage (manual and mechanical therapeutic massages)
• pack applications (in particular, poultices, hot and cold packs)
• thermotherapy (applying heat or coldness for therapeutic purposes, in particular by heat conduction, thermal radiation, energy transformation, heat removal)
• ultrasound therapy (applying sound waves at a frequency of 20 kHz to 10 GHz for therapeutic purposes)
• special massages (in particular, lymphatic drainage, reflex massage, acupoint massage)
for therapeutic purposes on a doctor’s orders and under instructions and supervision by a doctor or physiotherapist.

Therapeutic masseurs
may autonomously perform the activities indicated above on a doctor’s orders.

Field of activities for blind masseurs
• classic massage (manual and mechanical therapeutic massages)
• special massages (in particular, lymphatic drainage, reflex massage, acupoint massage)
for therapeutic purposes on a doctor’s orders and under instructions and supervision by a doctor or physiotherapist.

> Career

Clinical and therapeutic masseurs may be employed by hospitals or sanatoriums, other establishments under medical management or supervision that specialise in the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of diseases or in the nursing of persons needing care, by medical practitioners or self-employed physiotherapists. Therapeutic masseurs may also work as self-employed persons.

> Further opportunities for education and training

Following the training programme for clinical masseurs, some institutions offer specialised courses on electrotherapy as well as hydrotherapy and balneotherapy.

Therapeutic masseurs may obtain qualifications for teaching tasks.