University Credit Transfer a First for Kangan Batman TAFE
8 March 2007
A new credit transfer pathway has been opened up with the acceptance of a graduate of a Kangan Batman TAFE Advanced Diploma course into a university undergraduate degree at RMIT.
Nicole Reid, 21, from Sunbury a student enrolled in Kangan Batman TAFE's Advanced Diploma of Remedial Massage (Myotherapy) has been accepted into RMIT Osteopathy for 2007.
'This is a first for the Sport Fitness and Natural Therapies student at Kangan Batman and I believe it is the first instance in Victoria of a Diploma of Remedial Massage graduate being directly accepted into RMIT Osteopathy without first having to do a bridging course,' says Pauline Kelly, Course Co-ordinator, Massage.
The Diploma in Remedial Massage is an 18 month full time course, which provides students with the skills to give remedial, sports and therapeutic massages. Graduates are able to register for membership of massage professional associations. Students who complete the Diploma course are automatically eligible to continue into the Advanced Diploma of Remedial Massage (Myotherapy) course, which takes a further 12 months to complete.
Graduates are often self employed or in group practice with other health professionals, or work for health clubs, hospitals, resorts, fitness centres, sporting clubs and in remedial centres or for WorkCover clients. Many Kangan Batman remedial massage graduates continue studies in myotherapy, osteopathy, Chinese medicine, shiatsu, homeopathy, oriental therapies, herbal medicine, naturopathy, and other related areas.
For Nicole Reid, it is the culmination of a long range career plan. Nicole focused her attention on Osteopathy early in her studies. She started to network with various Osteopaths to determine exactly what was required to be accepted, and to develop mentors.
Nicole, who moved to Melbourne from Bendigo to study at Kangan Batman, was a focused and determined student from the start, according to her teachers. She loved her course and always arrived early to class and clinic and was usually one of the last to leave.
'Nicole placed extra efforts in researching and reflection and kept to a planned balance towards her social life and academic work,' says Pauline Kelly. 'She had poise and confidence and willingly took on new information and problem solving activities, leading to her gaining the highest possible marks throughout the course'.
'We admired her unwavering focus on her goals, which enabled her to face the selection interviews at RMIT for Osteopathy with confidence and poise,' says Pauline. 'She has forged a tertiary education pathway from which future TAFE students will benefit.'
