Continuing Education

Although there are a myriad of functional medicine training programs available, most only offer CME – Continuing Medical Education, but not CPE – Continuing Pharmacy Education. This problem is part of the reason that FMPhA was initially founded! FMPhA Founder Lauren Castle started the Functional Medicine Facebook group after giving a CPE presentation at the Ohio Pharmacists Association Conference in April 2017, and started the FMPhA.org after giving a CPE presentation at the Michigan Pharmacists Association meeting in August 2017.

While FMPhA is actively working with organizations like IFM to offer CPE, there are now a number of virtual pharmacist-specific CE programs have become available over the years. Pharmacist CPE training programs on the topic of functional medicine can also be an excellent starting point before pharmacists foray into more advanced (and expensive) training or certifications. We all have to do CPE to maintain our license, so why not make it worthwhile and learn something that will truly change the way you practice pharmacy?

Here we list our top 3 online programs, 2 in-person programs, as well as ways to save on all 5 by becoming an FMPhA member.

Virtual Options:

  1. FunctionalMedicineCE.com – Founded by Melody Hartzler, FxMedCE is the premier CPE for Functional Medicine education. FxMedCE brings expert functional pharmacists like Lara Zakaria & Sarah Swidan, well-known practitioners like Carrie Jones, and top-tier educators like Thomas Guilliams together to provide a unique approach to clinical information and case studies, so that pharmacists can apply their learning in an understandable virtual format.
    FxMedCE offers both standalone one-day symposiums (7 hours) as well as an annual membership option with 2 hour monthly on demand lectures.
    FMPhA Member Discount: save 20% off with the code in the FMPhA Members Only page, while friends of FMPhA can take 10% off with code FMPhA.
  2. Integrative Pharmacy Specialist – Taught by Rob Kress, the “Functional Pharmacist”, IPS has two levels.
    Level I (5.75 hours): Beginning at the foundational elements of health; diet, stress management, movement/exercise, other positive lifestyle habits, and nutritional medicine, Level I IPS provides you with the foundation and the language around complementary medicine to quickly become the obvious expert in your market.
    Level II IPS (6 hours): The student will then begin to understand options for assessment, testing, and how to apply the principles in their practice. In this level of advanced studies, we will get into systems of the body, including adrenal health, digestive health, cardiovascular health, and many of the other areas plaguing our culture’s health.
    Food to Pharmacy Connections (3 hours): The Food to Pharmacy Connection is a journey following wellness from food, to medicine, to lifestyle changes in order to help patients on their personal health journeys. This program is designed to help you recognize where medicine first began, through exploring the plant and animal kingdom, then take your new understanding into practice by implementing the power of lifestyle medicine for the good of the patient.
    FMPhA Member Discount: save 20% off FreeCE Membership and 10% off the IPS and Food to Pharmacy programs, with discount codes in the FMPhA Members Only page.
  3. Thinking Outside the Vial Series – Taught by Lara Zakaria and Suzanne Keyes, and sponsored by NCPA, this series offers 9 hours of CE and kicks of with a free webinar, “Reimagining the Pharmacist’s Role in Functional Medicine“, before delving into 6 more topics that pharmacists need to know to integrate FM into pharmacy practice: GI, Diabetes, CVD, Hormones, Pain/Inflammation, and Allergies.
    FMPhA Member Discount: save 10% off each individual $75 webinar, or 10% off the complete $399 series with code in FMPhA Members Only page.

In person options: 

FxPharmacy Symposium – Held annually in September with rotating locations, this CE event is sponsored by Orthomolecular Products with CE accredited by FxMedCE. FMPhA has been attending since 2017, and now hosts a Friday FMPhA Meetup each year to bring members together prior to the Saturday Symposium. This is truly the premiere event for pharmacists in functional medicine!
FMPhA Member Discount: save $200 off registration with code in FMPhA Members Only page.

A4M World Congress – If you read our A4M blog, you’ll know that A4M is very inclusive of pharmacists in their educational offerings, particularly if you are a compounding pharmacist. While this isn’t a virtual option, the A4M World Congress event in December offers 19.5 hours of ACPE CE for Pharmacists, and you learn from some of the top names in Functional Medicine, like Terri Wahls, David Perlmutter, Deanna Minich, Andrew Heyman, Jill Carnahan, plus pharmacists like Sarah Swidan, Jim Lavalle, and Nayan Patel.
FMPhA Member Discount: save $100 off A4M members, $100 off World Congress or Spring Congress registration, and $750 off Modules.

 

We hope you found this guide helpful! If you know of additional functional medicine CPE opportunities, please let us know!

Consider joining FMPhA today to get access to these exclusive discount to make functional medicine CPE even more affordable.

Sign up to get our free Functional Medicine Pharmacist Checklist!

If you want to learn more about implementing functional medicine in your pharmacy practice, sign up to get our free Functional Medicine Pharmacist Checklist! Whether you’re new to functional medicine or you’ve been practicing for years, this Checklist will give you tools to enhance your practice and help patients improve their health.

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