I read that they recently legalized practicing out of your home... but I'd talk to the City about it.

You'll need to:
- download forms from the Department of Public Health website (application and fingerprinting)
- make an appointment (not necessary, but will make your life so much better) with the police department for a "live scan" fingerprinting... get there early with your fingerprinting form
- go to the Department of Public Health and turn in the application ($100 application fee), let them photocopy your ID and Diploma showing at least 100 or 200 hours (depending on which license you're going for)
- take the exam, there's one each month
- DPH will call you to tell you that you passed, then you'll go there and get another form...
- walk a few blocks with this form to City Hall and pay the tax collector some money ($75 a year, somewhat prorated)
- take your receipt back to DPH and they give you your license and such

It takes the PD about three weeks to process your background check, so go there ASAP or it will hold up your license.

I took the Advanced exam. You could get 15 out of 50 wrong and still pass. It was all Swedish/western anatomy.... 30 questions were a mix of multiple choice and True/False... there were 20 matching questions (labels/diagram), 10 muscular anatomy and 10 skeletal.

Some of the MC questions were like "which muscle only crosses one joint" or "which muscle doesn't cross the knee". Others involved the definition of petrissage, or which area of the body is appropriate for hacking.

I have a friend in SF that has been doing massage for around ten years, I will give him a call and see what he says

a few things to consider.

first off, zoning laws. you can't run a business in your house (legally) that has people coming and going. they simply will not give youa business license if you try to do that. that's probably the illegal part of that. however, i know many, MANY therapists working from home. as long as there isn't a stream of people that will bother your neighbors into complaining, you don't relaly need a business license. until they find out about you, and then, well, deal with that if it happens.

regarding the state licensing BS. even though there isn't a licensing system in california, every county has it's own rules regarding the number of hours you have to have i nyour education. to make it even more frustrating, cities within the same county can have different requirements for different number of hours. SF has a 500 hour requirement. Berkeley is the same. walnut creek has a 75 hour requirement... it's city specific, so i would check with the city you're moving into.

if you are in the east bay, i rent out massage rooms to therapists - you can access to 2 masage rooms 24/7 for about $250 - which is WAY cheaper than anything else you'll find around here. contact me if you'd like to find out more about this.

hey - welcome to the bay area!

get familiar with Craigslist, if you aren't already, its a great place to build a client especially if you have a concise message. . .welcome to the bay. . .hope your practice is doing well
zeke

Hey Matthew, so how's it going out there in SF? Did you set up your practice? Details please.

Scott