A Brief View of the Year

This has been a very exciting year at PIMT Saskatoon.  We would like to highlight some of the amazing occurrences we've been fortunate to experience this year:

1. This year we are pleased to announce the commencement of our Disabled Student's Equality Program
• This program was created to ensure that each student has an equal opportunity to succeed in the career they choose
• Students who struggle with learning, physical, or psychological disabilities are given the chance to make the most of their education, without being belittled, pushed aside, or forgotten
• We have purposed to create a program that will assist these students in using their strengths in studying, note taking, and examinations while not compromising our evaluation standards
2. As always, we have given our students the opportunity to get out into the community and practice their training through "outreaches" - a supervised time of massage practical and learning
• We started the year working with the Canada Revenue Agency's appreciation day; the students of our first year class had the opportunity to perform relaxation massage for an afternoon
• One of our favourite outreaches is at the University of Saskatchewan's Student "Stress-Less" day; our first year class had the opportunity to work on the students through the most stressful time of year: EXAMS
• We are currently in the midst of an outreach with the MS Society; our senior class is giving over a number of clinical hours specifically volunteering massage treatments for members of the Society (Thank you Cassie for all your help organizing)
• As we look toward the rest of the year, we are looking forward to working with the AIDS Society and the Saskatoon Yellow Jackets
3. We have also had the opportunity to attend a number of career fairs in high schools across Saskatchewan
• In Saskatoon, we visited a number of high schools (including Aden Bowman Collegiate Institute)
• We traveled to Swift Current, Melfort, and Tisdale (to name a few)
4. We are currently working on have a new Part-Time Relaxation Certificate Program approved
• This program would be 250 hours and would certify graduates to work as Relaxation Therapists or Spa Clinicians
• We are currently waiting on approval through the Ministry of Education

In addition to the Institute specific, we have also been a part of the larger picture for Massage Therapy in Saskatchewan:

1. Working alongside the Massage Therapy Association of Saskatchewan and the other Massage Therapy institutes in Saskatchewan to assist the furtherance of the Massage Therapy profession as it pertains to national competencies
• We have been given the opportunity to see and be apart of the action that will hopefully bring legislation to the profession of Massage Therapy - making it a primary health care modality and being recognized as a regulated profession
2. Attending workshops with the Student Financial Assistance Branch of the Ministry of Advanced Education, Employment, and Immigration - discussing the new initiatives they are putting in place to aid students in their educational endeavours
• Our campus is up-to-date on all information that pertains to financial aid for students in Saskatchewan and are supporting the positive changes SFA has instated for students
3. Spending time with the Saskatchewan Association of Career Colleges, who are tirelessly working toward the betterment of Private Vocational Education in this province
• We are impressed at the willingness of an association to strive for excellence, not only in themselves, but in the Institutes they represent

We have had such an amazing year so far. There is no end to the positive accomplishments and opportunities that we - and others associated with Massage Therapy - can create and/or acquire in this field.