My name is Dorel Lacatus; I would like to introduce myself as the founder/owner of European Medical School of Massage, LLC. We are licensed by the PA Department of Education, which makes us the only European Medical Massage School in the North Eastern United States. Our Main Campus is currently located in Sinking Spring, Pa.

We are proud to announce, in June 2015, we have been approved by The Pennsylvania Department of Education to open a second location partnering with Reading Muhlenberg Career & Technology Center adult education program to offer the community our Medical Massage Program.  Please visit their website to learn more about what Reading Muhlenberg Career &Technology Center has to offer:  http://www.rmctc.org/.

The community of Berks County will take advantage to change careers and change lives in this new growing field of Medical Massage by coming to either of our locations. They will learn the manipulation of muscles, ligaments, and tendons for the healing process by using modalities in Medical Massage.

Changing lives is our goal. For that we hire top quality massage instructors making sure our students after graduation are prepared to serve the community.

We also have affordable payment plans as low as $311.00 per month. This will allow everyone the opportunity to come to our school that has a desire to make a difference.

Over 20 years ago, I immigrated to the United States with a vision of establishing myself as a medical massage therapist, based on my training in Europe techniques in Romania. As a professional in my native country, I was respected as a member of a health care team of Kinesiology and Physiotherapist. In the United States, however, the attitude and myths about massage were entirely different. My mission as a therapist here was to change the minds of clients to appreciate massage with a medical perspective. A medical massage is a patient-focused approach to pain management, clinical assessment, and physiological healing. Through my business at European Medical Massage and Spa, I was able to accommodate both clients that were in need of physical healing and provide spa services and relaxation massage for clients from a more holistic approach. Massage for medical purposes was a priority in my business when in contrast to other spas it was a last resort after all other medical treatments had failed.

Because of the American financial systems failure in 2008 and the eventual government rescue of many financial institutions, the economy faced the most the unstable and insecure times of the 21st century. It was during this period that the consumers of America were confronted with a loss of income, health insurance, and financial ruin. It might have seemed that the massage industry, most commonly referred to as a luxury, would have suffered greatly since individuals could not afford such comforts. Surprisingly, consumers started to present for more massage services due to higher levels of stress and loss of healthcare insurance. In many cases, the new massage client was utilizing medical massage as a first choice due to the cost as opposed to increasing primary care physician, physical therapy, prescriptions, and chiropractic costs due to their loss of health insurance and compromised personal finances. The medical massage was beginning to redeem itself in the medical community, and massage therapists were slowly being recognized as health care professionals not as an alternative to traditional medicine, but as an adjunct to it. In 2010, the Pennsylvania State Board of Massage Therapists mandated licensing requirements for any manual therapists performing massage therapy. This was a big leap for massage therapy and medical massage as the government, due to increased demands from the public, now respected massage therapists for their skills and contribution to overall health. The myths and stereotypes that regarded massage therapists as hippies, prostitutes, and a subculture were soon to be dispelled and negated.

Since licensing (we are now in our second licensing period), the massage therapy industry has done a complete turnaround. Physician referrals, insurance acceptance, increased public demand that was formerly the exception were now becoming the norm in professional massage therapy businesses. Medical, “medi,” spas began to emerge with medical staff support and direction to increase standards of treatment. European Medical Massage and Spa was already ahead of most of the competitors in the area. At this time, the demand for more trained therapists resulted in a wave of institutions providing short-term education to meet the requirements of the industry. This is when, however, I began to notice a lack of treatment and assessment skills and the focus on the care of clients. Considering that a massage therapist touches a customer/patient directly, more than any other medical professional, it was also necessary for the standards of controlling disease transmission, respectful and ethical care standards, and increased knowledge of medical terminology, procedures, and practices. The Pennsylvania schools were way behind in advanced training as a base when compared to other states in America (many states offer Associate’s Degrees in Applied Health Science with a Massage Therapy focus). Again, medical massage was now at 70% compared to 30% spa and relaxation services, when in the past the case was the opposite. The massage was evolving into a treatment for physiological healing and was patient focused.

It was my concern at this time that there needed to be the more comprehensive education for massage therapists. The state of Pennsylvania, since licensure, has reported 500+ malpractice cases regarding massage treatment and a majority of those cases are based on the lack of knowledge for entry level students who emerge into the industry with no practical tools to practice in a medical environment. Medical massage classes can be taken as a supplement or continuing education courses but many are not offered in the mid-Atlantic region, and therefore the access to these programs was not feasible for many beginning and even experienced therapists to keep up with the trends and demands of medically focused, solution-oriented massage techniques. With any industry, when trends dictate changes, then the professionals need to educate and arm themselves with the skills necessary to meet the demands. This is the case with medical massage as well.

At this time, I was fortunate to become acquainted with several different area massage therapists, medical professionals, and educators who shared the same concerns about the evolution of massage and massage education. Our vision of a future where massage professionals are present in physical therapy, chiropractic, hospital and other institutions to provide treatment is not farfetched and is entirely feasible with the appropriately trained medical massage therapist. It is for this reason that we brainstormed and convened to assess the needs and expectations of our communities so that we could attempt to provide a better education foundation for massage therapists to enter directly into the medical environment. Over the last two years, we have all worked diligently to propose a medical massage training program that provides what the public and the medical community needs. Overall, we have nearly 100 years of experience in massage, and 50 years of experience in medical service applications to fortify our credentials to educate and produce successful medical massage therapists adequately. To realize this dream, we started ContinuingEdWorkshops.com that facilitates continuing education courses for medically oriented massage therapists with much success. In September 2014 we submitted our new private school and program proposal to the Pennsylvania State Board of Education. On November 13, 2014, our program and school were approved for operation with the blessings of the Pennsylvania Massage Therapy Board and the DOE for instituting a program that encompasses the vision of medical massage and its relevance to the healthcare industry.

We are excited to be able to afford the Berks and Pennsylvania prospective students and massage professionals with an advanced education that will prepare them for more secure and professional employment opportunities and to provide the public with healthcare services that are recognized. I have added our mission statement and history as outlined in our catalog to further support my story and how I feel that our school will make a difference in the evolution of massage therapy so that we can continue to serve the medical needs of our patients.

European Medical School of Massage, LLC is founded by Dorel Lacatus, a Pennsylvania Licensed Massage Therapist who established European Medical Massage & Spa, LLC, of 2909 Penn Avenue, Reading, PA. Mr. Lacatus has extensive education in physical therapy, kinesiology, chiropractic treatment and medical massage. He has established a business in Berks County that provides the community and surrounding areas with a unique clinical approach to therapeutic massage for pain relief and management of chronic and acute health symptoms and conditions. Therefore, he has embarked on providing the same quality education in these methods to advance the massage therapy industry into the next generation of concomitant, comprehensive manual therapy

It is the vision of European Medical School of Massage, LLC to change the landscape and scope of massage practice by establishing an educational program that instructs students in the highest quality of medical massage. The most efficient and contemporary techniques to serve the community for pain and stress relief, medical conditions including sports injuries, cancer, and post-op orthopedic rehabilitation.

Currently, Berks County massage therapy education programs have provided the tools for an entry level massage therapist to begin a career in wellness. However, the standards that have been set by the State of Pennsylvania have forced educators to implement an increased quality of education to ensure the success of any student and to execute the medically appreciated treatment of common symptoms and postulates for overall health for the public. These ideas for care have been demonstrated by Dorel Lacatus have been paramount to his success as a medical massage practitioner serving Berks and adjoining counties for the past fifteen years. During this time, Mr. Lacatus has continued to provide post technical school massage training to all of his therapists to effect the changes in client satisfaction from pain relief and chronic conditions. These techniques have afforded the European population advanced massage therapy solutions for decades and have pushed the American massage therapist to improve upon services in this country from a medical perspective.

Medical massage methods are not encompassed in the current curriculum of basic massage training and have been found to be lacking in most massage therapy enterprises as a source of successful management of human physical stress. In further support, national trends are inclined to require Associate’s Degrees in Health Science for massage therapists due to the higher standards set for massage and manual therapists in individual states as they are recognized as a vital constituent of medical care. European Medical School of Massage, LLC provides the Berks County community with access to massage therapy education by experienced, educated, and motivated instructors for a career in a holistic and beneficial field of healthcare. Since medical massage has developed into an essential component for treatment of a variety of diagnoses, in conjunction with many other licensed health professionals, an educational program for this field is vital to this growing therapy. Massage therapy is in the highest demand by clients and employers since being recognized by the State of Pennsylvania as a profession worthy of licensure and regulation due to its significant contribution to public wellness from both physical and psychological perspectives. Because of this, education for massage therapy professionals from a comprehensive, clinical, solution-oriented, client-focused, view is now available through European Medical School of Massage, LLC

Our school and program will afford Berks County and mid-Atlantic state students with the fundamental resources necessary to achieve and succeed in today’s society. The future massage professionals will have the convenience of location, and all of the educational resources that are available at a quality facility with potential for additional instruction in other fields from the rich resources of colleges in the immediate area. Looking ahead at the inevitability of a required Associate’s Degree for massage practitioners, operating the massage program of this caliber would obviously be practical for our students and for local colleges to increase programs and credit courses for this degree to be achieved. In essence, the School provides southeastern Pennsylvania with the benchmark in education for massage and manual therapists. This program gives the student with the required minimum of 600 hours of clinical education necessary to sit for the State licensing examination, and a diploma/certificate will be awarded at the end of the program. The School follows the Pennsylvania State Board of Massage Therapy Rules & Regulations and the guidelines of the National Certification Board for Massage Therapy and Bodywork, as well as the American Massage Therapy Association, and Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals, under which the student will be prepared for successful completion of the examination and licensure. Statistics for completion, graduates, State and National exam success rates will be available to all students and the public.

You can visit our user-friendly website:  https://emsom.edu/  for more information about the school.

In addition to our 700-hour Medical and Therapeutic Massage  Program, the school offers Continuing Education for Massage Therapists including a 284 CEU Master in Medical Massage Certification and an 80 CEU Physio Sports Massage Certification