Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/81195
7 Start a journal club Reading in-depth scientific articles often works best as a group activity. So call up your bodyworker friends, have a monthly potluck, and send out a peer-reviewed article that would generate a good discussion. Don't settle for abstracts! Sign up for free, research-oriented email alerts The International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (IJTMB) is a free, high-quality research journal for bodyworkers. (Sign up at www.ijtmb. org.) PubMed, your free government index of health-care research, has plenty of amazing functions, such as a full- text filter, video tutorials, and a search tracker, so you can save articles for later. Perhaps the most powerful tool on PubMed is the email alert function, where you can specify what interests you, and then PubMed will let you know every time new research is published in that area. Ways to Build Research into Your Massage Career Write letters to the editors If you read something that you disagree with, don't stew on it privately! Researchers want to hear from you. Write a letter to the IJTMB or the Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies and get your opinion in print. Connect with researchers and physicians Do a web search for massage-related research or integrative medical clinics in your area, and contact them. You will find them surprisingly receptive. Just be ready to accept two things about them: 1) they are busy; 2) they will not always share your basic assumptions. So introduce your terms carefully, respect their time, ask good questions, and you're usually guaranteed a response. Use research in your marketing materials If you want to create marketing materials that will draw both medical referrals and discerning members of the public, take the time to cite a few sources in your brochures, websites, and emails. (Don't try to get it perfect—your sources could be textbooks, websites, papers, or even conversations—just try to show people where you got your knowledge.) Or how about those old magazines in your waiting room? Try adding a few printouts of compelling massage research, and see what your clients say. Partner with the Massage Therapy Foundation (MTF) These folks are the real deal, working tirelessly to ensure that massage research reflects our actual practice and elevates our work. But they need your involvement to get the job done! Visit Massagetherapyfoundation. org to find out how to: • Take the online continuing education course, "Basics of Research Literacy." • Send in a submission to the Student or Practitioner Case Report Contest. • Submit your own research poster. • Donate money, or better yet, hold a fundraising party. • Inform your friends, colleagues, and clients with the MTF's annual report. Attend a conference We have two major gatherings on the horizon. First is the Third International Fascia Research Congress, March 28–30, 2012, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Visit www. fasciacongress.org/2012/ for more information. The second is the 2013 International Massage Therapy Research Conference—presented by the MTF, April 25–28, 2013, in Boston, Massachusetts. Both of these opportunities will put you in direct conversations with the research community and transform your career. If you want to witness the leading edge of our profession, these are the places to be. Celebrate ABMP's 25th anniversary and you may win a refund on your membership. ABMP.com. 61