{"id":31931,"date":"2025-09-22T16:08:55","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T16:08:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifestylemedicine.org\/?p=31931"},"modified":"2025-09-26T13:06:59","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T13:06:59","slug":"academic-pathways-propel-health-profession-students-toward-lifestyle-medicine-certification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifestylemedicine.org\/academic-pathways-propel-health-profession-students-toward-lifestyle-medicine-certification\/","title":{"rendered":"Academic pathways propel health profession students toward lifestyle medicine certification\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/strong><\/strong>Academic pathways propel health profession students toward lifestyle medicine certification <\/strong>   <\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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ACLM offers two academic pathways\u2014full and partial\u2014designations to help health profession schools prepare their students to be future leaders in lifestyle medicine through certification. For many schools, earning the Partial Academic Pathway designation is the first step toward becoming a Full Academic Pathway program.    <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/strong>By Sally Crocker<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

September 25, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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More than 90 master\u2019s and doctoral health professions programs are preparing future healthcare professionals to become leaders in lifestyle medicine through the American College of Lifestyle Medicine\u2019s (ACLM) Partial Academic Pathway program<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This program helps master\u2019s and doctoral health professions programs prepare students for lifestyle medicine certification while they are still in school. To earn Partial Academic Pathway status,\u202f<\/strong>programs must include one course that covers at least 25 percent of the\u202fInterdisciplinary Lifestyle Medicine Core Competencies<\/a>\u202fpublished by the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine in 2022.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be\u202feligible\u202fto take the lifestyle medicine certification exam, individuals must satisfy two prerequisites: attend an approved lifestyle medicine conference and complete 30 hours of approved online lifestyle medicine CME\/CE courses.\u202fCompletion of a Partial Academic Pathway program satisfies the conference attendance prerequisite for the exam. Completion of a Full Academic Pathway program satisfies both the conference and CME\/CE prerequisites.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Academic Pathway Programs integrate lifestyle medicine throughout the curriculum, have at least one faculty member certified in lifestyle medicine and have a Lifestyle Medicine Interest Group<\/a> (LMIG) on campus.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To date, over 375 master\u2019s and doctoral students have taken advantage of the ACLM Partial or Full Academic Pathways<\/a> certification pre-requisite\u202fwaiver. There\u2019s no cost for schools to become an academic pathway program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increased knowledge, confidence, and competency <\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Emory Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing faculty members Amy Becklenberg, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP, and Allison Leppke, DNP, MPH, FNP-C, DipACLM, called the Partial Academic Pathway \u201can invaluable opportunity to introduce lifestyle medicine concepts to all health professional students and springboard those who are interested into a career in this specialty area.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They published a study,\u202f\u201cIncorporating Lifestyle Medicine Knowledge and Skills Into Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Education: A Pilot Program,\u201d in the July 2025 issue of the\u202fAmerican Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, determining that students\u2019 lifestyle medicine knowledge, confidence and competency were improved after integration of lifestyle medicine content into Emory\u2019s family nurse practitioner (FNP) program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStudents felt better prepared to assess and address lifestyle medicine with patients,\u201d the authors concluded. \u201cOne hundred percent of those surveyed reported that they plan to use their lifestyle medicine knowledge and skills during patient care.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Educational support for partial pathways<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The ACLM educational resources<\/a> supporting pathway programs include the course \u201cLM 101<\/a>,\u201d the Taste of Lifestyle Medicine Microgrant<\/a>, the Culinary Medicine Curriculum<\/a> and the open-access Lifestyle Medicine Education (LMed<\/a>) curricular resources.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe knew that being an ACLM-approved pathway would provide additional support for integrating lifestyle medicine into Emory\u2019s family nurse practitioner program,\u201d Drs. Becklenberg and Leppke said. \u201cWe greatly appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with other faculty who strive to enhance the lifestyle medicine content that student clinicians receive.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe also knew this would be an exciting step to hopefully attaining Full Academic Pathway<\/a> designation approval in the future.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A strategic advantage for students<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Class of 2025 Emory School of Nursing student Esther Bernal, MSN, who is on the FNP track and has been a nurse for more than two decades, said she first gained background into lifestyle medicine during a family nurse practitioner course intensive.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLifestyle medicine is unique because it is transformative,\u201d she said. \u201cIt does not just add years to our life, but it meaningfully adds life to our years. It\u2019s holistic in its approach yet evidence-driven on how chronic diseases can be reversed.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Partial Academic Pathway program, she said, is giving her \u201can early head start and a strategic advantage on how to embody lifestyle medicine to meet the challenging demands and complexity of healthcare in treating chronic diseases.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy applying what I learned from lifestyle medicine in my clinical rotations, in my hospital work, even in my family and personal life, I am beginning to see myself as an advocate even before full credentials or certification,\u201d Bernal said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cost savings for certification<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sarah-Ann Keyes, EdD, PA-C, DipACLM, assistant professor, School of Health Professions\/Huffington Department of Education, Innovation and Technology, and assistant dean, Student Affairs\/School of Health Professions at Baylor College of Medicine, said that the Partial Academic Pathway provides important cost savings for students pursuing certification. Many students have loans and other financial concerns.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was important to us to try to lower the barrier to certification in any way we could to encourage our students to pursue that pathway,\u201d Dr. Keyes said. \u201cWe also wanted to have the foundations for a potential Full Academic Pathway in the future.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecoming a Partial Academic Pathway was a matter of proving we were doing that work and then receiving that credibility and visibility from ACLM,\u201d she said.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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