Fleming College

Taking her classroom work to another level, graduating student Rhonda-Marie Avery will soon have a case study published in an international journal.

Rhonda-Marie, who graduated June 9 from the Massage Therapy program at the Sutherland Campus, completed the case study in her sixth semester.

She then submitted her study to the American Massage Therapy Association’s Student Case Report Contest. This is an international competition with entries from around the world and the winner receives publication in an international journal (pending a peer review).

“I offer the case study as an option to replace a simpler assignment in semester six. It gives students the opportunity to tackle something more rigorous and provides a challenge for the ambitious,” said Massage Therapy faculty member Paul Clifford. “I think it gives the right student a chance to get excited about the formal application of science to their own practice of massage therapy.”

Massage Therapy students operate a public massage therapy clinic at the college. For her case study Rhonda-Marie chose a clinic patient who was suffering from arthritic neck and arm pain and attempted to alleviate her symptoms – and then determine how and why it worked.

It is quite an undertaking to complete the case study. And on top of dealing with the everyday demands of school work and family life, Rhonda-Marie faces additional challenges as she is legally blind.

“The project itself took a number of weeks to finish. It would have been impossible without help from teachers on an ongoing and untiring basis,” she said.

However, her perseverance and extra time spent on the case study ultimately led to personal and professional rewards.

“Client care and interaction was ongoing throughout the study. The majority of the research part came at the right time in my learning to really push me to study and understand various aspects of the pathology I was dealing with.”

Rhonda-Marie said the majority of people see massage therapy as only one type of health care – usually for relaxation.

“While this is true, the profession follows a foundation of assessment, treatment planning and focused reassessment to meet client goals. The ultimate goal of massage therapy should not be more massage therapy. It should be health and well being.”

She said the case study taught her that clients also need self-education and ongoing encouragement to continue progressing.

“Just as health is dynamic, massage therapy is dynamic; all parties need active involvement to hopefully create the path to healing,” she said.

Rhonda-Marie has a degree in Anthropology from Trent University and it was that post-secondary background that spurred her to do the case study.

“Research was always fun, hard work, but fun,” she said.

Conducting the study reinforced for Rhonda-Marie that the profession she has chosen is aimed at, and capable of, creating optimistic changes in people’s health.

“There is something major to be said about knowing and believing in what you plan on doing and advocating for every day,” she said.

Massage Therapy is a familiar vocation to Rhonda-Marie. Her husband is a registered massage therapist. And with three children, demands at home are time consuming.

“With massage therapy I can do this on an individual basis and still work around children and family dynamics.”

She added that Fleming College was an “easy choice.”

“My husband went there and I know the best training for massage comes from here. You want to be the best, you train with them. That’s just the way it is.”

Going forward, Rhonda-Marie says her career goals in the field are focused on creating a clinic that enables and fosters a positive environment for clients.

“My primary focus is to open a clinic that embraces the active involvement of clients. In the future I would love to continue researching in the field,” she said.

“First and foremost, my goals are to never get bored with my self in this profession, to always seek out the adventure that life has to offer and to take on the next challenge,” she added.

Paul Clifford calls Rhonda-Marie an “exceptional” student. A lot of extra time goes into completing the case study – at least 50 to 100 hours beyond the time spent with the client in the clinic.

Having a case study published in a journal is a major achievement, he added.

“These are international, peer-reviewed journals. Articles are often authored by leading educators, experience practitioners, or teams of researchers. It indicates an extremely high standard of work.”

Following a peer review process, Rhonda-Marie’s case study, Cervical Degenerative Disc Disease: Alleviating a Pain in the Neck?, will be published in one of two journals: the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork: Research, Education, and Practice (IJTMB) at http://ijtmb.org or the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies (JBMT) at http://www.elsevier.com/jbmt

Rhonda-Marie also receives a cash prize of $2,500 and an invitation to display a poster of her case study at the American Massage Therapy Association national meeting in Portland, Oregon in October 2011.