Is my teacher incompetent or am I over reacting?

[Kendall the Blacksmith]

Ok, I have a problem. My Anatomy & Physiology II teacher had an hour
and a half hour of class time to kill so she told us to get out the
tables. We have just finished reviewing the veins and arteries, so
she told us to massage the veins and arteries to increase their blood
flow.

I remembered from my basic Swedish massage class that they said not to
massage the veins and arteries, that it might cause a stroke. And
when I worked on a hospital switchboard a nursing supervisor told me
that stimulating the carotid artery could cause heart arrhythmia.
When I stood up and pointed out all these things, she countered that
you can push on the carotid artery for up to 90 seconds if you only do
one side at a time.

Meanwhile my classmates were busy trying to massage their partner's
veins & arteries, some even considering adding it to their massage
routine on actual clients.

Is my teacher incompetent or am I over reacting?

I don't have much confidence in her since she has told us things like
"...the only difference between the male and female pelvis is that the
female pelvis is tilted..." and that "...body lice are the same as
bedbugs..."

WHAT SHOULD I DO???

[Michael B]

The function of massage is to facilitate, among other things,
venous return. The sternocleidomastoid needs to be very
carefully and appropriately worked, because of the proximity
of the carotid artery and the vagus nerve.
The way to facilitate arterial flow is by working the muscle
from distal to proximal, with reference to the heart.
So I suggest that you do some research on what can happen
if you inexpertly stimulate the vagus nerve, and additionally
you realize that a person will be very uncomfortable about that
area being massaged in the first place.
Additionally, I suggest you research the jugular and external
jugular to round out your research.

Bottom line, in every profession, there are a few professionals,
and a lot of amateurs. Not to say that I just might see your
instructor as one of the amateurs that may have appropriately
gotten out of actual client contact.