The North Carolina Board of Massage and Bodywork Therapy has voted to make the Massage and Bodywork Licensing Examination (MBLEx) the only major test that will be accepted for regular licensure after Jan. 1, 2011.

The MBLEx is the exam created by the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards, and is gradually being used alongside or in place of the exams created by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork in states that regulate massage therapists.

“The decision by the North Carolina Board to adopt the MBLEx as their primary licensure examination has a combined beneficial outcome for both the public in North Carolina and the profession as a whole,” FSMTB Executive Director Debra Persinger, Ph.D., told MASSAGE Magazine. “The FSMTB supports and applauds this progressive step taken by the North Carolina Board towards adoption of the uniform licensing examination that is in the best interests of the regulatory program and allows portability of licensure on a national level.”

The final text of Senate Bill 1314, which contained the amendments to the North Carolina Massage and Bodywork Therapy Practice Act, may be downloaded here.

The latest version of the North Carolina Practice Act may be accessed here.