How Long is Massage Therapy School in Florida?

The AMC Massage Therapy School in Miami, FL is continuing its massage therapy career series. In the last article, we covered the general admissions requirements for massage school in Florida and discussed how to finance your massage therapy education.

In this article, we will discuss the length of study of the typical massage therapy program and why selecting a program with a longer course of study may be a better option for your education. Hopefully, this will help you understand approximately how long massage school in Florida is and why.

Massage Schools in Florida have to be minimum of 500 classroom hours long, which is 6 months of study

According to the State of Florida Massage Therapy Board, a massage therapy program must be a minimum of “500 classroom hours…completed at a rate of no more than 6 classroom hours per day and no more than 30 classroom hours per calendar week.” This means that you can expect to spend at least 6-months in school.

Below is a breakdown of the required courses and their total class hours. Keep in mind that all state approved-massage schools in Florida have to include these courses as part of their licensing requirements.

If you do the math, you will see that 500 divided by 30 is equal to 16.67, meaning that you expect to spend an absolute minimum of 17 weeks taking classes. However, that number does not include weekends or holidays, etc. Since most schools only hold classes Monday-Friday, you can expect the minimum course of study to be closer to 24 weeks or about 6 months.

This all assumes a full-time pace of study and only a 500-hour program, but in reality, most massage therapy schools in Miami are longer and average around 700 hours of classroom hours.

In short, you can expect most massage therapy schools in Florida to be around 8 or 9 months long. Of course, part-time time students will have to spend close to a year in school, depending on the specifics of the program.

Why a Longer Massage Therapy Program is Better

It is true that a shorter course of study may allow a student to enter the workforce earlier. However, that does not mean a shorter program is necessarily a better choice than a longer one. For one, keep in mind that massage therapy can take a toll on your hand, elbow, and shoulder health. A longer program will allow you to spread your clinical hours, which allows for better rest and recovery.

Secondly, longer programs typically include additional courses that are designed to give you a career advantage. For example, Acupuncture and Massage College offers a Shiatsu certification through its massage school in Miami, Florida. While it’s true that the certification adds additional classes to our curriculum, it also gives our massage graduates a professional advantage. Because Shiatsu requires an understanding of non-conventional medicine, our graduates are often selected over graduates from other programs to work in alternative and holistic medical settings, such as Chiropractic, Acupuncture, and Pain-Reduction clinics.

And lastly, a longer massage therapy program will give you more time to prepare for the Massage Therapy and Bodywork Examination (Mblex). Keep in mind that passing the Mblex is required for licensing in Florida and most other states. Being in a longer program will give you the advantage of studying and preparing for the Mblex at a solid pace, including having additional access to the library and classroom tools.

If you're interested in learning more about massage school or a career in massage therapy, download our free career guide below. Acupuncture and Massage College is located in the Kendall area of Miami, Florida. For more information, call us at 305-595-9500 or visit us at 10506 North Kendall Drive, Kendall, Drive, Miami, FL 33176.