Massage therapy: certification: credit hours.

The Massage Therapy Act, until January 1, 2021, provides for the certification and regulation of massage therapists and massage practitioners by the California Massage Therapy Council, which is a nonprofit organization. Existing law requires applicants for certification as a massage therapist to complete certain educational requirements, including the curricula in massage and related subjects totaling a minimum of 500 hours. Existing law requires these 500 hours to be from an approved school, as defined. This bill would require the council, pursuant to its policies and procedures, to accept hours earned by an applicant for certification as a massage therapist if those hours were completed before July 1, 2016, and were earned from a school providing education in the state that was unapproved, as defined, by the council after July 1, 2016, based solely on the fact that the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork took denial or disciplinary action against the school.