02/26/2019
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law New Mexico Senate Bill 200. This law amends the Massage Therapy Practice Act in several ways. The law now includes a definition of continuing education (CE) and continuing education providers. Under the law, continuing education encompasses "courses, seminars, workshops, and classes in areas related to the practice of massage therapy." Some of the approved areas of education included in this definition of continuing education are: massage, bodywork, health care, psychology, anatomy, physiology, business, insurance, ethics, professional development, movement therapy, stress management, CPR, First Aid, and complementary alternative medicine modalities.
The law defines approved continuing education providers as: an individual who was an active New Mexico registered independent massage therapy instructor on the effective date of the bill, massage therapy schools, national professional associations for massage therapists, NCBTMB, health care professional organizations, and accredited post-secondary education institutions. One does not need to be a "continuing education provider" to provide CE courses. The Massage Therapy Board has the power to accept and evaluate applications from individuals who want to teach CE courses who are not a "Continuing Education Provider."
In addition, this law provides that the Massage Therapy Board has the authority to regulate massage therapy schools and establish curricula and instructor qualifications.
The bill was signed into law on February 4, 2019, after only 20 days in the legislature. You can view the text here.