The regulation of any health profession is intended to ensure the general public that the people who are identified as a specific type of health professional are qualified to practice. When a professional has been working in the health care industry for a number of years without regulation, establishing requirements for licensure is setting the stage for the future of the profession. The passage of legislation requiring regulation of a profession is only the first step.

The Governor will now need to appoint the Board of Massage Therapy, which consists of seven massage therapists and four public members.

Once the Board of Massage Therapy has been appointed, the Department of Community Health, in consultation with the Board, will develop administrative rules that establish the minimum standards for licensure. The development of administrative rules is a detailed and lengthy process. The rules must identify the standards by which all applications are evaluated. The proposed rules will be available at this website as soon as they become available for review by the administrative agencies prior to the required public hearing.

Applications for licensure and the actual issuance of licenses can not begin until the rules have been developed and formally approved. This process can take 12-18 months. At this point, we expect to begin the application and licensure of massage therapists no earlier than January 2011. Periodic updates will be made to this website as the program progresses.

If you wish to receive an application for licensure, you can submit your name and address to us at bhpinfo@michigan.govat any time. We will distribute applications to those on our list as soon as they are available.

Thank you for your patience.