Canadian RMT Fall 2017 CanRMT_Fall_17_FINAL | Page 10

Celebrating the inception of the
International Medical Massage
Therapy Institute, March 2, 2017
in Chandigarh, India.
Massage Training in India:
Something Old, Something New
By Brian Goldstein
Did you ever think you, a mere mortal, could take on Garry
Kasparov, the world chess champion, and beat him at his own
game? How about accepting a karate match against Jackie
Chan? Good luck, right?
What if I were to tell you that Canadians excel at something
so well that they are now teaching it to a civilization with 3,000
years of history in this very endeavour. The endeavour of course
is massage therapy; and the civilization…India. Yes India, argu-
ably the master craftsmen of aryuveda massage.
For all of its knowledge of this subject, massage as a thera-
peutic treatment modality is not in the general mainstream of
knowledge or practice in India. Well, Canadians are about to
change that! India’s first college of therapeutic massage, the
International Medical Massage Therapy Institute (IMMTI),
has opened in Chandigarh, in the heart of the State of Punjab.
The school, two years in the making, is the brainchild of Dr.
Randeep Mann, head of the Dental Council of Punjab. Along
with three extremely dedicated Canadian health care profes-
sionals (two RMTs and a Chiropractor), the college opened
its doors for its first intake on March 2nd, Jupiter Day on the
Indian calendar. Students will train in a 500 hour, 7-month pro-
gram. Part of their clinical internship will be at a local hospital.
By the end of the program, they will truly begin to understand
the therapeutic healing power of massage.
But that’s not the end of the story. While many graduates of
IMMTI will stay and work in India, spreading the word about
the benefits to society of this new health care profession, sev-
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Canadian rmt
eral are expected to travel to North America, and particularly to
Canada, to take their knowledge to the next level.
This is where CCMH, the Canadian College of Massage &
Hydrotherapy, comes in. CCMH has entered into a collabora-
tion agreement with IMMTI to accept those graduates of the
program who would like to do exactly that. Once securing their
study permit, IMMTI graduates will be provided acceptance to
any of CCMH’s and its sister college, the West Coast College of
Massage Therapy’s five campuses.
Having attended the opening of the new IMMTI campus,
CCMH’s President, Brian Goldstein, said, “I am more excited
than ever about this bold, new initiative and I have tremendous
admiration for the team here in Canada who have worked so
hard to make it a reality.”
The team of Canadians on the ground in India has been led
by two veteran RMT’s, Scott Dartnall and Monica Pasinato-
Forchielli along with Chiropractor Dr. Andria Hoda. These
professionals, are joined by Michelle Francis-Smith and along
with Shaona Chatterjee they form the educational backbone of
IMMTI. As well, they will be supported by a raft of whos whos
guest lecturers from across North America. These health care
professionals have made education their mantra and are intent
at ‘giving back’ by sharing their knowledge even if it means they
must travel half way around the world to do so!
How about that? We always knew that we as Canadians had a
lot more going for us than hockey. Here’s yet another feather in
our cap.