- Now enrolling: Next cohort starts October 5, 2026
- Student Portal
- Continuing Education
The 19-Month Program
Every course in the program, from anatomy to board readiness.
Becoming an exceptional massage therapist requires more than learning a collection of massage techniques.
It requires understanding the body beneath your hands.
At SHI Integrative Medical Massage School, our 19-month curriculum is designed to help students connect the science of the human body with the art and practice of therapeutic touch.
Students develop their education progressively—building foundational knowledge, strengthening hands-on skills, exploring different approaches to bodywork, and learning how to bring those pieces together when working with an individual client.
Because knowing how to perform a technique is important.
Anatomy isn’t learned in isolation.
Neither is massage technique.
Neither are pathology, communication, ethics, assessment, or professional practice.
Eventually, all of those pieces have to come together when a client is on your table.
That’s why SHI’s curriculum is about more than completing individual classes. Throughout the program, students have the opportunity to revisit concepts, strengthen developing skills, and connect classroom knowledge with hands-on experience.
Study the structures, systems, terminology, and principles behind massage therapy.
Build massage techniques through demonstration, repetition, feedback, and experience.
Begin understanding how anatomy, movement, client communication, assessment, and bodywork relate to one another.
Develop the confidence and critical thinking necessary to approach each client as an individual.u.
There
The human body becomes your classroom.
A strong understanding of anatomy and physiology helps massage therapists understand the structures and systems they work with every day.
Students develop knowledge of the body’s major systems while learning to connect textbook anatomy with the physical body.
The goal isn’t simply memorizing names.
It’s learning to understand the body you’re working with.
Eventually, the classroom gives way to the professional world.
Massage therapists may work for established businesses, join multidisciplinary practices, or eventually build practices of their own.
Professional education can therefore extend beyond the massage table into areas such as:
Professional-practice and business topics are also represented in the current MBLEx content outline
SHI has developed a reputation for exceptionally strong performance by its graduates on massage therapy licensing examinations.
And when you look at what the MBLEx actually evaluates, it becomes easier to understand why a comprehensive curriculum matters.
The current examination covers seven major areas:
Anatomy & Physiology
Kinesiology
Pathology, Contraindications & Special Populations
Benefits & Effects of Soft Tissue Manipulation
Client Assessment, Reassessment & Treatment Planning
Ethics, Boundaries, Laws & Regulations
Guidelines for Professional Practice
These aren’t isolated test subjects.
They are many of the same areas of knowledge that help form a well-rounded massage therapist.
An Education You Can Build a Career Upon.
