Therapeutic Food Plans: A Component of Personalized Nutrition (TFP) Fall 2024

Therapeutic Food Plans

Therapeutic Food Plans examines the role of nutrition within the functional medicine framework and how selecting therapeutic foods can impact many chronic conditions. This course offers over 50 toolkit resources that are available to download and share with patients. For full access to the complete toolkit library with hundreds of resources, IFM membership is required. Learn more

Clinicians will develop mastery of the IFM Food Plans including features, scientific rationale, customization, troubleshooting, and patient engagement tips. The course is broken up into the following sections:

• Review of Functional Medicine Fundamentals
• Personalizing the IFM Therapeutic Food Plans
• Phytonutrient Spectrum
• Core Food Plan
• Cardiometabolic Food Plan
• Detox Food Plan
• Mito Food Plan
• Elimination Food Plans (Elimination Diet, Anti-Candida Food Plan, & Low-FODMAP Food Plan)
• Integrative Case Studies
• Summative Exam

Through this course, clinicians will be able to select and personalize an appropriate food plan based on their patient’s unique set of health concerns and lifestyle preferences. Clinicians from all disciplines are encouraged to join the course, especially if they work closely with patients on nutrition.

Practitioners will have 45 days to complete the course and may access materials at any time of the day, from any location with internet. Supporting program materials, including toolkit resources, will be available in your account for one year.

There will be over six hours of interactive materials, including videos, case studies, quizzes, and numerous patient-facing resources for each food plan. Cohort members will also have access to an IFM moderated discussion group with educators and other experienced nutrition professionals to network and share best practices.

At TFP you will learn how to: 

• Understand the importance of nutrition in the management of chronic conditions.
• Compare the features and applications of IFM’s food plans.
• Personalize IFM food plans based on dietary needs, preferences, and health goals.
• Use IFM tools to identify dietary and lifestyle patterns contributing to a patient’s health.
• Understand how diet and nutrition can improve health.

Your enrollment in the course includes a comprehensive nutrition toolkit, with strategies to enhance your practice and patient care approaches. These include:

• Over six hours of interactive materials, exploring each of IFM’s eight food plans, divided into segments so learners can come and go as they please within a 45-day timeframe. Access continues for one full year beyond the 45-day cohort for learners who complete the course.
• Access to over 50 of IFM’s proprietary toolkit resources, available to download and share with patients. These include: comprehensive guides for each food plan with weekly shopping lists and recipes, intake forms, assessment questionnaires, patient handouts, and other nutrition resources. Access continues for one full year beyond the 45-day cohort for learners who complete the course.
• For practitioners who have completed AFMCP and decided to be publicly listed on IFM’s Find a Practitioner database, those who complete TFP will have the course appear on their list of IFM courses completed when the cohort is complete.
• An invitation to join an IFM-hosted private group for community interaction for the duration of the course. Expert moderators will help facilitate discussions.
• Learners may consider adding access to IFM’s Patient Education Series (PES) to their toolkit. While not required for completion of TFP, this educational series provides patients with an interactive walk-through of the IFM food plan recommendation for them. PES takes some of the burden off of clinicians while giving back valuable time for clinical care.

The CME/CE option is intended for clinicians who need to fulfill continuing education requirements. If you do not need CME/CE credits, you may purchase the non-CME option.

To obtain credit for this course, you must complete all course chapters, pass the summative exam with 80% or greater, and complete the summative survey. Partial credit is not available.

ACCME ACCREDITATION STATEMENT

IFM is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

BCNS ACCREDITATION STATEMENT

IFM is accredited by the Board for Certification of Nutrition Specialists (BCNS) to provide Nutrition Professional Continuing Education (NPCE) credits for Certified Nutrition Specialists® (CNS®).

CREDIT DESIGNATION STATEMENTS

MD/DO: The Institute for Functional Medicine designates this other activity (a semi-synchronous online cohort) for a maximum of 6.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

ND: Generally, state naturopathic boards accept courses accredited through the ACCME.

CNS: IFM designates this activity for a maximum of 6.5 NPCE credits.

PA: The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) accepts contact hours approved through ACCME.

NURSING PROFESSIONAL: The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) accept contact hours approved through ACCME.

RD: The Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) accepts contact hours approved through ACCME.

OTHER: For information on applicability and acceptance of continuing education credit for this activity, please consult your professional licensing board or other credentialing organization regarding the acceptance of contact hours through ACCME-accredited organizations.

*Continuing education credits are subject to change.

Registration

Program materials and CME/CE certificates are delivered to you through your personal IFM online account. Online access cannot be shared – course materials, course content, and CME/CE credit are provided to the individual registrant only. For this reason, you may not register multiple people or someone other than yourself. No registrations will be taken after 4:00 pm PT, Wednesday, October 30, 2024.

Participation

Participants of the Therapeutic Food Plans Online Course have 45 days from the course start date (October 21, 2024) to complete the program. Learners who do not complete within the time frame will lose access to all course materials. Our systems do not allow for course extensions for any reason. No partial CME/CE credit will be awarded.

Cancellation

Technology Requirements

This online course requires a reliable internet connection. The course can be viewed on mobile devices and tablets, but it is optimized for laptops and desktop computers. The course itself may not be downloaded; you must have a live connection to interact. Download of course materials is not supported for mobile devices or tablets.

Q: Who should take this course?
A: IFM encourages a multi-disciplinary approach to nutrition and patient care. We welcome a variety of clinicians who work closely with their patients on nutrition. This may include physicians, RD, CNS, pharmacists, and others with a Master’s degree or higher level education. Other healthcare providers and nutritional professionals are also encouraged to join the course. Although the course has been designed for practicing medical professionals, there are no prerequisites in terms of degree.

Q: Am I required to take any other IFM courses prior?
A: No, however IFM strongly recommends that you take AFMCP first. Although IFM’s proprietary tools, such as the Functional Medicine Matrix, are reviewed during this course, AFMCP provides in-depth context for the skills, processes, and science behind incorporating functional medicine principles into practice. AFMCP is offered multiple times each year, go to ifm.org/afmcp for more information.

Q: I am a single practitioner practice, can I share my PES subscription with other practitioners?
A: No. Your PES subscription cannot be transferred or shared with practitioners outside of your practice. However, your subscription does admit practitioners from your same practice. Note that the Therapeutic Food Plans elearning course may not be shared outside or within your practice.

Q: Will I receive CME/CE credits after completing this course?
A: If the CME preference product is selected clinicians are eligible to receive up to 6.5 CME/CE credits. A record of educational achievement will also be delivered upon completion of the course.

Q: Will I be certified as a functional medicine practitioner after completing the course?
A: No. This course is not included in the IFM Certification Pathway. The pathway for the IFM Certification Program requires you to complete AFMCP and the six Advanced Practice Modules as well as pass a certification exam.

Q: What IFM patient education materials are available during this course?
A: Each module of the course offers resources to download, print, and distribute to your patients. These resources are also available to download from the TFP course materials section in your IFM account. These include over 50 toolkit resources: comprehensive guides for following each food plan, shopping lists, recipes, and strategies to address other lifestyle factors. While not required for completion of this course, IFM’s Patient Education Series complements the TFP course learnings and is a tool to help patients understand how to follow their personalized version of the IFM food plans. Learn more about this add-on tool.