Woo in college?

**asthmatic camel** · 24th January 2010, 10:50 AM

Mooching about at our local college's website, I discovered that they offer courses in some rather questionable subjects, reflexology among them.

Linky.

As far as I'm aware, reflexology hasn't been shown to be effective, so is it right that public funds are allocated to courses like this?

**DrS** · 24th January 2010, 11:12 AM

I was very interested in this myself a while ago, being surrounded by woo in the form of spaced-out British expats, many of whom offer "therapy" in one form or another. I posted THIS thread to find out if there was any kind of rationale to reflexology, and it appears not.

No, for me, public funding for this is just plain wrong.

**asthmatic camel** · 24th January 2010, 12:30 PM

This is the bit that worried me...

Course details for Holistic Therapies : Certificate in Reflexology - VTCT / IIHHT
Is this course for you?
This course is designed for those wishing to gain a professional qualification in Reflexology, and wanting to enter the health and holistic industry.
What do you need to get on the course?
You must hold a Certificate in Anatomy & Physiology or a recent Human Biology qualification. A good level of English and Communication skills is required along with manual dexterity. GCSE Level of education would be desirable but not mandatory. A uniform if required which consists of a Tunic £30 to be worn with black trousers further information will be given during your induction.
How long is the course?
20 Weeks
When you will be attending.
3 hours per week - 6pm to 9 pm

Linky

WTF does GCSE Level of education mean? An E* in media studies? And if you're too thick to get one of those, they'll let you in anyway.

The world's gone mad. Again.

**polomint38** · 24th January 2010, 04:20 PM

Originally Posted by asthmatic camel

The world's gone mad. Again.

Looking through history, was it ever sane?

**Bob Lloyd** · 7th February 2010, 06:37 PM

It's widespread in academic institutions trying to put bums on seats and essentially they're prostituting their rubber stamps to any courses wanting to pay. David Colquhoun has been cataloguing the UK university sector and ORAC has been doing the same in the US.

Even ITEC, which supposedly validates qualifications acceptable internationally and gets funding from the Learning and Skills Council, is now also offering courses in Reiki!! After a look at the course requirements and syllabus, I posted this about it recently. You can find the details of the course here.

So now you can get an internationally recognised qualification in managing and manipulating an imaginary energy using skills that are indistinguishable from fraud. There's definitely a case for name and shame for institutions joining the Quackademia movement.

**Pebble** · 7th February 2010, 07:11 PM

Originally Posted by Bob Lloyd

You can find the details of the course here.

.

Intriguingly they have redefined anatomy and physiology to include pathology (superficially) and symptoms and signs! The first 'pathology' mentioned is ..... fibromyalgia!, followed by cramp! HIV/AIDS is filed under circulatory abnormalities, oedema under lymphatic abnormalities. I suspect they didn't get anyone who understood pathology involved when drawing up these lists.

**Physical Therapist** · 8th February 2010, 08:13 AM

Originally Posted by Bob Lloyd

Even ITEC, which supposedly validates qualifications acceptable internationally and gets funding from the Learning and Skills Council, is now also offering courses in Reiki!! After a look at the course requirements and syllabus, I posted this about it recently. You can find the details of the course here.

Not sure of the quality of ITEC courses - they run a lot of the basic swedish massage courses that range to just a weekend to longer.

Have some friends who have done ITEC, however, when I first started out I decided to go and do Sports Massage instead and have never regretted it.

**Tony Williams** · 8th February 2010, 02:43 PM

Originally Posted by Physical Therapist

- they run a lot of the basic swedish massage courses that range to just a weekend to longer.

That sounds exciting...enquiring minds want more details

**Bob Lloyd** · 11th February 2010, 02:30 PM

Originally Posted by Pebble

Intriguingly they have redefined anatomy and physiology to include pathology (superficially) and symptoms and signs! The first 'pathology' mentioned is ..... fibromyalgia!, followed by cramp! HIV/AIDS is filed under circulatory abnormalities, oedema under lymphatic abnormalities. I suspect they didn't get anyone who understood pathology involved when drawing up these lists.

I have a strong suspicion that no-one with any scientific background gets anywhere near the process of validating the content of these courses. I've been chasing up the bodies that supposedly validate the assessment (see other thread for the Reiki case) and it looks as though some body says "there's no course available in X" and then someone says "OK we'll develop one!". Alt-med woo gets an official rubber stamp because there's then a course in it.

We should challenge each of these courses and question whether anyone is actually checking the content. David Colquhoun had some success in the university sector challenging homeopathy degree courses, and we could easily follow his approach. It's easy to do, just send them an email, then keep at it. It doesn't take a lot of time.

**Graham Lappin** · 18th February 2010, 12:43 AM

Originally Posted by Bob Lloyd

I have a strong suspicion that no-one with any scientific background gets anywhere near the process of validating the content of these courses. ......

Simply and accurately explained.