Instructor Insights | Khashayar Karami, RMT & Manual Osteopathic Practitioner (Candidate)
Khashayar Karami has spent nearly a decade as a Registered Massage Therapist, built a practice that spans everything from ICBC rehabilitation to prenatal care, and is now finishing an advanced osteopathy program. We sat down with him to talk about how it all started — by accident — and what he wishes every student knew before they began.
How did you end up in RMT?
Honestly? I didn’t plan it at all.
On day one of the program, a career in healthcare wasn’t even on my radar — I found my way there almost entirely by accident. But once I was in it, things started to make sense. I grew up around family members in healthcare, so there was always that thread in the background. And when I started to see how much demand there was for RMTs, and how much room there was to genuinely build something — a real career, a real practice — I was all in.
What does your practice actually look like day to day?
It’s more varied than most people expect — and that’s what keeps it interesting.
Some clients come in for straightforward relaxation — they need to decompress, reset, and leave feeling better than when they arrived. Others are recovering from car accidents through ICBC, working through serious rehabilitation with very specific goals. I also work with athletes recovering from sports injuries, patients preparing for or healing after surgery, and clients during and after pregnancy. Every single one of those is a different kind of care, a different kind of trust. That variety is what makes nearly ten years feel like it’s gone by fast.
“Every client is a different kind of care, a different kind of trust.”
You’re also finishing an osteopathy program — tell us about that journey.
It’s been five years of pushing myself in a completely new direction — and it’s been worth every bit of it.
I’m currently completing the final research paper to earn my designation as a Manual Osteopathic Practitioner. It’s a significant undertaking on top of an active practice, but I genuinely believe that the best practitioners never stop studying. Osteopathy has deepened the way I understand the body — it’s made me a better RMT, a better clinician, and a more curious person. I want my students to see that kind of growth isn’t the exception. It’s the standard to aim for.
What should students know about this industry before they start?
That you’re not just choosing a career — you’re choosing a lifestyle.
BC has one of the most strictly regulated massage therapy industries in the country, and that’s because this is healthcare. That’s something to be proud of. But it also means the standards are high — and they start the moment you walk into the program. You’ll be learning to care for others while simultaneously learning to care for yourself. This is a physically and mentally demanding profession. The work-life balance habits, the mental recovery, the self-care practices — you have to build those during your studies, because they don’t magically appear after you graduate.
“You’re not just choosing a career — you’re choosing a lifestyle.”
And your advice for graduates?
Stay curious. That’s it. That’s the whole thing.
The practitioners who burn out are often the ones who find one approach that works and stop there. The ones who thrive — who still love what they do years in — are the ones who take workshops, pursue continuing education, explore different treatment modalities, and keep asking questions. Don’t let graduation be the finish line. Let it be the starting point.
Khashayar Karami is a Registered Massage Therapist with nearly ten years of clinical experience and a Manual Osteopathic Practitioner candidate currently completing his research paper. He works with a wide range of clients including ICBC patients, athletes, surgical patients, and expectant mothers, and brings that same depth of knowledge into the classroom.
