It's a privilege for me to learn as much as I can in functional medicine and to bring that back to the community I serve."
The Founders' Scholarship was established and funded by IFM founders Susan and Jeff Bland. This scholarship supports functional medicine education for practitioners working with underserved communities who show exemplary leadership and passion for their communities and the mission of IFM.
Creating Healthier Communities
Founders' Scholarship Details:
Who is this award for?
- Practitioners currently practicing anywhere around the globe
- Practitioners beginning their functional medicine education and who are currently working with medically underserved communities
What the award includes:
- Covers tuition for all IFM core functional medicine curriculum (AFMCP + APMs), which can be applied toward the 100 hours of accredited functional medicine education required to qualify for certification:
- Functional Medicine Certified Professional (FMCP)™ or
- Functional Medicine Certified Professional-Medical (FMCP-M)™
- Annual International Conference (winner must attend in-person event)
- Up to $1,000 travel-expense reimbursement
What the award DOES NOT include:
- Fees for CME credit hours
- IFM Membership
- Certification Application Fee
- Certification Written Test Fee
- Costs associated with maintenance of certification
- Certification Review Course Fee
Eligibility Requirements:
To be eligible for the Founders' Scholarship, applicants must fulfill the following criteria:
- Clinicians must have taken at least one of the following courses:
- Must NOT have taken more than two of these IFM Programs:
- Applying Functional Medicine in Clinical Practice (AFMCP)TM
- Any of our six Advanced Practice Modules (Cardiometabolic, Immune, Hormone, Bioenergetics, Environmental Health, GI)
- Clinicians must qualify for the Functional Medicine Certification Program™ to be eligible.
The new Functional Medicine Certification Program™ will launch in 2026. If awarded the scholarship, you can continue to enroll in IFM courses, and those hours will count toward the 100 hours of accredited functional medicine education required for certification.
Founders' Scholarship Applications are Open
The deadline to submit a Founders' scholarship application is by January 27, 5pm PST. In the meantime, please reach out to [email protected] with any questions.