Medical massage is prescribed treatment performed only on clients with conditions diagnosed by a physician or chiropractor. Treatment is specific to the part(s) of the body related to the pathology and is not given as part of a full-body massage. Not unlike sports massage, the goal of medical massage is to provide therapeutic relief to parts, systems and organs of the body, using direct (local) and indirect (reflex) methods of treatment.

In this course, we will combine medical massage as defined with a study of those therapies which can provide comfort to people with conditions which affect the body in a more general way and may be part of normal life (pregnancy, childhood and geriatric) or illness (cancer, HIV, neurological, etc.). It should be said of medical massage that the methods of treatment have the same goals as any medical procedures and the focus is on creating wellness.