Academic pathways propel health profession students toward lifestyle medicine certification    

ACLM offers two academic pathways—full and partial—designations 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.    

By Sally Crocker

September 25, 2025

More than 90 master’s and doctoral health professions programs are preparing future healthcare professionals to become leaders in lifestyle medicine through the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s (ACLM) Partial Academic Pathway program. 

This program helps master’s and doctoral health professions programs prepare students for lifestyle medicine certification while they are still in school. To earn Partial Academic Pathway status, programs must include one course that covers at least 25 percent of the Interdisciplinary Lifestyle Medicine Core Competencies published by the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine in 2022.  

To be eligible to 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. Completion 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.  

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 (LMIG) on campus.  

To date, over 375 master’s and doctoral students have taken advantage of the ACLM Partial or Full Academic Pathways certification pre-requisite waiver. There’s no cost for schools to become an academic pathway program. 

Increased knowledge, confidence, and competency  

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 “an 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.” 

They published a study, “Incorporating Lifestyle Medicine Knowledge and Skills Into Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Education: A Pilot Program,” in the July 2025 issue of the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, determining that students’ lifestyle medicine knowledge, confidence and competency were improved after integration of lifestyle medicine content into Emory’s family nurse practitioner (FNP) program.

“Students felt better prepared to assess and address lifestyle medicine with patients,” the authors concluded. “One hundred percent of those surveyed reported that they plan to use their lifestyle medicine knowledge and skills during patient care.”  

Educational support for partial pathways 

The ACLM educational resources supporting pathway programs include the course “LM 101,” the Taste of Lifestyle Medicine Microgrant, the Culinary Medicine Curriculum and the open-access Lifestyle Medicine Education (LMed) curricular resources.  

“We knew that being an ACLM-approved pathway would provide additional support for integrating lifestyle medicine into Emory’s family nurse practitioner program,” Drs. Becklenberg and Leppke said. “We greatly appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with other faculty who strive to enhance the lifestyle medicine content that student clinicians receive.”  

“We also knew this would be an exciting step to hopefully attaining Full Academic Pathway designation approval in the future.” 

A strategic advantage for students 

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.  

“Lifestyle medicine is unique because it is transformative,” she said. “It does not just add years to our life, but it meaningfully adds life to our years. It’s holistic in its approach yet evidence-driven on how chronic diseases can be reversed.” 

The Partial Academic Pathway program, she said, is giving her “an 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.”  

“By 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,” Bernal said. 

Cost savings for certification 

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.  

“It 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,” Dr. Keyes said. “We also wanted to have the foundations for a potential Full Academic Pathway in the future.” 

“Becoming a Partial Academic Pathway was a matter of proving we were doing that work and then receiving that credibility and visibility from ACLM,” she said.   

Brenna Brown, third-year Physician Assistant student at Baylor College of Medicine, said, “It brings me a lot of comfort that even fresh out of school with student debt, my program has already set me up to be that much closer to being fully qualified to provide the kind of care I have always wanted to provide. The Partial Academic Pathway has removed a significant barrier to entry for PAs to practice lifestyle medicine.” 

Students seeking pathway programs 

As faculty advisor for prospective students, Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Puget Sound’s School of Occupational Therapy Shelly Norvell, OTD, OTR/L, DipACLM, said she immediately recognized the pathways’ value for students when she learned about the program after earning certification in 2022. 

“Preparing for the board exam was a challenging yet invigorating experience, and throughout the process, I saw clear connections between the six pillars of lifestyle medicine and the foundational principles of occupational therapy,” she said. “Occupational therapy emphasizes client-centered care as does lifestyle medicine.”  

Some students have cited the certification pathway as one reason they were drawn to the school’s occupational therapy program. The best reason for a school to offer a pathway program in lifestyle medicine, Norvell said, “is that it supports the ACLM vision in which ALL health professionals are trained and certified in lifestyle medicine.” 

“By incorporating lifestyle medicine into pre-professional education, we demonstrate that preparing future clinicians to address the root causes of chronic disease is a priority. Ultimately, it’s an investment in both the future of healthcare and the health of the communities we serve.” 

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