chapter on "Massage Therapy" by Freeman (2001) appearing in Mosby's Complementary & Alternative Medicine: A Research-Based Approach. Dovetailing with the efforts of the MRAW has been the recent work of the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation (COMTA) as it reviewed various competency-based standards for massage therapy and bodywork education and the implied professional skills that must be ensured as a precondition for licensing/certification. These developments have been reported in depth by Ostendorf and Schwartz (2001) in anticipation of the established implementation date of 1 March 2003. Among the newly-established professional competencies is that of a research-based standard that is detailed as follows (C. Ostendorf, personal communication via e-mail, June 13, 2001; Ostendorf & Schwartz, 2001, p. 120): Element 6.3: Demonstrate the ability to read and evaluate technical information found in articles in health related journals and determine biases and limitations in the findings or premises the articles are based on. 1. Explain the value of research to the profession. Locate research literature on therapeutic massage. Critically read and evaluate a published research article in the field of massage therapy/bodywork. IV. Access appropriate information resources as needed, and apply this information in practice. It is to this particular standard that the remainder of this paper speaks. Research Competencies 5 Dimensions Essential to Advancing Massage Therapy Research Competencies Admittedly, the research focus in this paper is on only a small segment of the newlymandated competencies, yet the implications for implementation are far-reaching and complex due to two basic realities: 1. Massage therapy and bodywork students appear to constitute an extremely heterogeneous group with respect to educational background, occupational experience, and professional goals. Accordingly, all aspects of educating preservice therapists in the realm of research competencies must be informed by the extensive diversity among those we teach. 2. In addition to pre-service therapists, another obvious population in need of research competency enhancement includes both massage therapy educators and in-service therapists already licensed/certified. Our concern, then, must encompass not only curricular and instructional accommodations within massage therapy schools but also easily-accessible opportunities for continuing educational experiences for colleagues already practicing in the field. Although these two concerns are indeed quite challenging, there are other realms that must be considered as we design and implement strategies for advancing massage therapy research competencies (MTRCs) in our professiort These additional considerations cut across not only other curricular and instructional issues but also matters pertinent to resource materials and personnel, varieties of research documents and strategies, areas of inquiry, and organizational contexts for supporting massage therapy researclt With this in mind, then, Table 1 presents a framework from which we might begin the necessary work on those several dimensions suggested here as essential to advancing MTRCs in our profession. And even if Skinner is only partially correct in his view of ". . . the eternal problem of finding order," then 6 Research Competencies 6 certainly our task is well-defined as we try to bring order and clarity to all that is implied within and across these eight dimensions. Dimension 4ICurricular & Instructional Contexts for Teaching IvITRCs This first dimension focuses on those curricular and instructional contexts in which MTRCs might be taught (see Table 2). Perhaps the most basic context is that ofa core research course being included in the massage therapy school's curricular offerings. Positioned among the initial courses completed in a massage therapy program would allow for concurrent and subsequent coursework to build on those research skills developed at the outset of one's studies. A possible follow up to this core research course might be that of a research skills module as part of specific massage therapy courses. Another possible context for teaching MTRCs is that of continuing education workshops. This would be an appropriate route not only for massage therapy educators preparing to infuse their curriculum with research-focused modules, but also for in-service practitioners whose earlier education predated the current research emphasis. Finally, an additional context involves networking seminars for interested health care professionals who might have overlapping interests in the research agendas of massage therapists. Dimension 42Application Tasks for Demonstrating MTRCs The second dimension involves those possible tasks by which one might demonstrate an application of research competencies appropriate to the massage therapy profession (see Table 3). One fairly obvious tasks here is that of being able to "consume"i.e., search, access, retrieve, critique, and usethe available massage therapy research literature. This, ofcourse, would be a minimal type of activity in which all massage therapists would want to be proficient so as to position their own practice on a more informed-by-research basis. Perhaps an even more ambitious task in this