RE: What is an Itec Course?
Hi, I know that ITEC courses are recognised in many countries and you can get insurance to work in Australia, South Africa and the UK and also some European countries (not France, esp for Aromatherapy - they have different laws and you have to be medically qualified to practise aromatherapy in France). I think the US also has different regulations, but I'm not sure.
RE: What is an Itec Course?
ITEC is an "international" to the extent it conducts examinations overseas. In countries where the professions have not set up their own regulations, it is probably a good start. Many places such as Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong (where I have lived and worked) will accept ITEC as being the best out there.
In the USA (where I am now), ITEC's minimum number of hours is so low that in states where massage is regulated (38 of the 50), it does not meet the minimum number of hours necessary to be a massage practitioner. You certainly will not be permitted to take the National Certification examinations as we don't meet the minimum number of hours of education in subjects. As a minimum, in the USA you would need 125 hours of Anatomy & Physiology (which is already longer than the minimum time of 100 hours for ITEC's old Dip Anatomy, physiology & Massage); 200 hours of practical massage and application; 40 hours of pathology; 10 hours of business and ethics and 125 hours of "any related field". With this you will be able to take the US National certificate exams, which many states (not all) use as a qualification.
In short -what meets the country's needs varies, and there really isn't any "internationally accepted qualification" as such. Having said that, it does not mean you cannot provide a great massage with your ITEC knowledge... It just might not be what a country's regulation requires for recognition.
The best example I can give is that of medicine: if you qualify as a doctor in the USA, you cannot automatically practise in the UK or in many countries because you would have a recognised qualification. You would need to go through a whole process to be recognised. Yet, a kidney is a kidney is a kidney...
And when it comes to recognition - it's all about turf wars. You would find that many of the aromatherapy bodies will not automatically accept ITEC's Diploma in Aromatherapy as being sufficient or to their standards. Even though your college might teach the same course to students sitting the two different examinations...
Just my two cents....