Hold Your Excitement

The image above is one I assume all massage students get a look at as they near the end of their schooling.  This is the breakdown of what appears on the MBLEx as per the FSMTB (the governing body for the examination).  For 16 years as an instructor at a massage school, I would go over this list with my students.  Without fail, many of the students would see that anatomy and physiology was “only” 11% of the MBLEx and begin getting very excited.  The first thing I would tell them is to “hold your excitement” until I can explain this list. 

            While the list may say that A&P is only 11% of the exam, this applies to question relating directly to the organ systems themselves.  The topic of Kinesiology contains all of the material regarding the skeletal muscles such as origins and insertions and even muscle physiology.  That is another 12%.  Pathology and Contraindications contains information from each of the individual organ system chapters the students went over in their A&P class.  That’s 14%.  The Benefits and Effects portion is almost specifically physiology from the organ systems.  That’s 15%.  Finally, the Client Assessment and Treatment part will invariably contain a portion of information from A&P as well.  That is 17%.

            This means that the reality is that anatomy and physiology will be somewhere around 50-60% of the actual MBLEx.  This is the point where the students tend to begin groaning aloud in dismay.  I mention all of this, not to scare you or disappoint you, but instead to inform and motivate you.  If you struggle with the very large topic that is A&P it is something you will need to work extra hard at getting comfortable with.  Because of the way the exam is “shuffled,” it is possible you could get an exam that is mostly Ethics, Technique and Business.  However, it is just as likely you can get an exam that is mostly A&P.  The bottom line is that you need to be comfortable with all of the topics that will be on the exam.