# Title 49 — Massage Therapy, Board of

## Article 49-02 — Educational Requirements for Licensure

## Chapter 49-02-02 — Classroom Instruction

### § 49-02-02-01. Hours of classroom instruction.

"Required hours of classroom instruction" means actual hours in attendance in class with
face-to-face interaction with an instructor, including through the use of technology that allows for visual
and auditory live remote education. Other classes may be through asynchronous remote education.
History: Effective January 1, 2001; amended effective July 1, 2010; January 1, 2017; April 1, 2024.
General Authority: NDCC 28-32-02, 43-25-07
Law Implemented: NDCC 43-25-07
### § 49-02-02-02. Eligible classroom instruction.

1. Except as otherwise provided in this section or waived by the board for good cause,
classroom instruction under this chapter must be provided by a licensed massage therapist at
a recognized and approved school of massage and credit may not be given for prior
educational instruction. In the case of a reciprocity application, the board may consider
documented continuing education courses toward fulfilling the minimum seven hundred fifty
hours of required education. In order to teach in North Dakota, the massage therapist must
have at least three years of hands-on experience as a massage therapist, hold a current North
Dakota license, and be in good standing with the board.
2. An instructor of anatomy, physiology, or pathology is not required to be a licensed massage
therapist, but must have earned a recognized master's degree or higher, in an appropriate
field of study. Instructors of first aid, sanitation and disease prevention, CPR, business
practice and career development, or ethics must have appropriate credentials, but need not
be licensed massage therapists.
3. A school of massage may give a student credit for prior educational instruction which was
provided by a postsecondary institution. The maximum credit for prior instruction which may
be given under this subsection is provided in subsection 5 of section 49-02-02-03.
History: Effective January 1, 2001; amended effective January 1, 2005; July 1, 2010; January 1, 2017;
April 1, 2024.
General Authority: NDCC 28-32-02, 43-25-07
Law Implemented: NDCC 43-25-07
### § 49-02-02-03. Required curriculum.

1. The supervised required hours of classroom instruction received by an applicant must satisfy
the following curriculum requirements:
a. One hundred fifty hours of anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology.
b. Ten hours of first aid and CPR. At the time of graduation, the applicant must hold a valid
current CPR card certified by a nationally recognized organization to provide CPR
instruction.

c. One hundred and thirty hours of introductory massage therapy courses, including basic
and allied modalities, contraindications, sanitation, disease prevention, and massage
theory.
2. The applicant must also satisfy the following curriculum requirements which do not require
face-to-face interaction with the classroom instructor:
a. Fifty hours of business practices, career development, and professional ethics.
b. One hundred twenty hours of other courses directly related to massage therapy.
c. Forty hours of pathology.
3. Each hour of instruction may be applied to only one of the above categories.
4. To be counted under this section, the instruction must reflect current scientific knowledge and
standards.
5. The number of classroom hours specified in subdivisions a through b of subsection 1 also is
the maximum amount of prior education credits in each subject which may be given under
section 49-02-02-02.
6. Hours of instruction for programs which measure their instruction in credit hours per semester
or per quarter shall be determined as follows:
a. For semester credits, fifteen clock-hours of lecture equals one credit hour and thirty
clock-hours of practical instruction (clinical or lab) equals one credit hour.
b. For quarter credits, ten clock-hours of lecture equals one credit hour and twenty
clock-hours of practical instruction (clinical or lab) equals one credit hour.
History: Effective January 1, 2001; amended effective January 1, 2005; July 1, 2010; January 1, 2017;
April 1, 2024.
General Authority: NDCC 28-32-02, 43-25-07
Law Implemented: NDCC 43-25-07
