AFMC Certification Terms and Conditions

Last Updated April 8, 2026

These terms and conditions have been updated to include a new section detailing the requirement for Participants to maintain active Full Access Enrollment status throughout the AFMC Certification exam process, from prerequisite submission through exam completion. Please review the “Active Enrollment Status for Exam Eligibility” section for complete details.

AFMC Certification Terms and Conditions
Remote Testing Policy
AFMC Practitioner Directory Listing Terms and Conditions

AFMC CERTIFICATION

The Program culminates in the Applied Functional Medicine Certification (AFMC). This credential represents the Participant’s successful completion of a set of rigorous requirements defined by SAFM but guided by key functional medicine tenets, a demonstrated understanding of a unique body of knowledge, and competency in the application of that knowledge.

As an AFMC credential candidate, the Participant agrees to the SAFM AFMC Practitioner Certification Terms and Conditions.

These Terms and Conditions are between Purpose Inc, 137 Concord Rd, Sudbury, MA 01776 (“Provider”, “School of Applied Functional Medicine™”, and/or “SAFM”) and the “Participant” (as identified by the name and address entered upon agreement) and covers the relevant tenets of the SAFM Applied Functional Medicine Certification (“AFMC”) process.

The Applied Functional Medicine Certification credential represents the Participant’s successful completion of a set of rigorous requirements defined by SAFM but guided by key functional medicine tenets, a demonstrated understanding of a unique body of knowledge, and competency in the application of that knowledge. Certification is included in the cost of tuition provided the Participant adheres to the following terms and conditions.

Certification Requirements

AFMC Level 1 exam to be completed upon completion of Level 1 program requirements.
AFMC Level 2 exam is to be completed upon completion of Level 2 program requirements. The AFMC Level 2 exam may only be attempted with a passing score recorded for the AFMC Level 1 exam.
AFMC Level 3 exam to be completed upon completion of all Level 1, Level 2, Clinical Inter-Program and AFMC Level 3 Practice and Sample Exam course requirements. The AFMC Level 3 exam may only be attempted with passing scores recorded for the AFMC Level 1 and Level 2 exams.
Each exam level may be attempted in any of three, predefined examination windows each year in February, June, and September.
Exam registration includes a guided review course and two attempts at the respective exam within the defined exam window dates.
Additional exam attempts are permitted in future exam windows for any of the three levels, subject to an exam fee.

AFMC certification is validated and awarded by a council of health professionals who have demonstrated expert integration and application of functional medicine science and principles within their own area of licensure or certification and chosen to share their clinical practice experience and passion for the purpose of developing other practitioners.

Upon achievement of a passing score on the Applied Functional Medicine Certification Level 3 exam, all AFMC candidates, regardless of enrollment date, are granted the following entitlements:

Permission to use the title “AFMC Practitioner” for professional business purposes. The AFMC credential does not convey any rights to the Participant to advertise or define himself or herself as “functional medicine certified” or as a “functional medicine practitioner”. Functional medicine is an approach to healthcare but there exists no functional medicine certifying body anywhere (in the U.S. or otherwise). It, therefore, should not be used to convey any additional modality, license, or title to a practitioner. The Participant’s professional title is a personal choice and should align with what is acceptable to the governing body associated with the Participant’s health modality. Until the Participant earns the AFMC certification credential, he or she may use the title of “AFMC Certified Candidate”.
Listing as an AFMC Practitioner in the SAFM AFMC Practitioner Directory. An invitation to create a profile will be sent upon the Participant’s signature of agreement to the directory terms and conditions.
An official paper certificate of certification will be delivered via postal mail.
License to use the official AFMC logo and wordmark for professional use subject to the terms of SAFM policy.
Access to a list of AFMC alumni benefits available at the time of certification.

Active Enrollment Status for Exam Eligibility

In order to complete pre-requisites, register, and sit for any AFMC Certification exam (Levels 1, 2, or 3), Participants must have an active Full Access Enrollment status.

Full Access Enrollment is defined as an enrollment level that grants participants access to all active SAFM resources, including the ability to progress through the AFMC certification levels, submit assignments, and register for examinations. Basic Access Program, which provides limited access to previously completed curriculum and community features, but does not allow for further progression or exam registration, does not fulfill this requirement.

Exam Registration: Participants who do not have an active Full Access Enrollment status, at the time of exam registration, will be ineligible to register for the exam.
Exam Access: After registering for an AFMC exam, Participants must maintain active status throughout both the exam preparation period and exam window. Participants who do not have an active Full Access Enrollment status at the time of exam window kickoff will not be granted access to the exam.

Failure to maintain active Full Access Enrollment status, due to payment issues or any other reason, will result in the Participant’s ineligibility to proceed with the exam. It is the Participant’s sole responsibility to ensure their Full Access Enrollment status remains active throughout the examination process.

Maintenance and Recertification

To maintain active AFMC Certification, the Participant agrees to the following stipulations:

Maintain an active healthcare license or certification. SAFM does not conduct education or credential verification for students enrolled in the SAFM Applied Functional Medicine Training Program. The failure of a graduate to report an expired professional license or certification harms the integrity of the AFMC credential and may result in a change to the certified practitioner’s access to alumni benefits or status in the AFMC Practitioner Directory.
Adhere to the curriculum and teachings of SAFM as well as the SAFM Code of Conduct.
Adhere to the Integrity Clause outlined in the SAFM Remote Testing Policy. This commitment helps to uphold the integrity and rigor of the examination process.
Recertify via the 34 AFMC Learning Credits, including 6 All Levels Open Coaching Calls and submission of a recertification completion form every three years. The recertification process is administered with the following stipulations:

- The Participant must purchase an SAFM fee-based, continued access subscription to access SAFM Open Coaching Calls (and prior coursework). A subscription may be purchased on a flexible month-to-month basis as the Participant requires access to meet the requirements of recertification.
- Exam registration eligibility requires submission of six Open Coaching Calls (offered monthly by SAFM) to be completed prior to or coincident with the 3 year recertification anniversary date.
- AFMC Learning Credits can be obtained through Open Coaching Calls and specifically noted SAFM learning opportunities.
- Failure of the Participant to achieve recertification by the anniversary date will result in expiration of the AFMC credential and a change in certification status to “inactive”. At this time, any and all references to AFMC certification must be removed from the Participant’s business website and marketing materials until “active” credential status has been, officially, confirmed by SAFM. All AFMC practitioner benefits will terminate immediately. If the Participant is using the official AFMC seal on a business website, the seal will be updated by SAFM to reflect “inactive” status. The participant will have one year from the recertification anniversary date (“recertification grace date”) to recertify without completion of additional coursework (less the mandatory Open Coaching Requirements noted herein). If the Participant is unable to successfully recertify within this timeframe, Recertification Remediation Guidelines will apply.
Abide by the following Recertification Remediation Guidelines associated with a lapse in certification:
- Upon expiration of the AFMC credential, the Participant will be returned to the status of an AFMC Level 2 student with credit for all completed AFMC Level 2 program requirements including the associated exam. The passing AFMC Level 3 exam and AFMC credential will be cleared from the Participant’s official AFMC certification record. The Participant can become AFMC certified through requirements for Level 3 exam registration and receiving a passing grade for the Level 3 exam. The Participant must purchase an SAFM fee-based, continued access subscription to access SAFM Open Coaching Calls (and prior coursework).
- Once the Participant’s AFMC credential is reinstated to “active” status, the stipulations of recertification outlined in Section 4 apply.
  
  Purpose Inc reserves the right to change these Terms and Conditions or to impose new conditions on AFMC Certification at any time. The revised Terms and Conditions will be posted on the Program Website and communicated to the Participant via email.

For questions or technical issues with the Directory, please contact SAFM Support.

REMOTE TESTING POLICY

Ensuring academic integrity in a virtual learning environment presents a unique challenge, but SAFM believes strongly that taking measures to protect this integrity is in the best interests of both the school and its students, graduates, and professional community. To ensure a high-integrity and authentic examination process, the Participant must adhere to the SAFM Remote Testing Policy.

Last Updated: April 4, 2024

Academic integrity speaks to the reputation of The School of Applied Functional Medicine™ and every student candidate seeking to achieve the Applied Functional Medicine Certification (AFMC) credential. Ensuring academic integrity in a virtual learning environment presents a unique challenge, but SAFM believes strongly that taking measures to protect this integrity is in the best interests of both the school and its students, graduates, and professional community.

SAFM uses online testing software to conduct competency evaluations (i.e., examinations) for Level 1 and Level 2 of the AFMC certification process. This secure, web-based tool allows SAFM access to industry best practices in remote testing, while offering our students a convenient online examination option.

To ensure a high-integrity and authentic examination process for each certification candidate, SAFM students must agree tor the school’s Integrity Clause upon registration for each examination, which includes all of the following:

A commitment to disclose no details, whatsoever, about the AFMC examinations (including but not limited to, the number of questions, content, scope, question sourcing, recommendations on what to study, course codes, etc.) to any other person, including peers, friends, or colleagues.

A commitment to maintain confidentiality extends beyond current students or graduates to any person as he or she may be a future student.

An agreement that all of your exam has been completed entirely on your own and without consulting any other person or AI-generated content in any way.

SAFM does permit open access to the SAFM learning portal (i.e., course content), notes, and other web-based references to complete an exam, However, each candidate’s exam submission must be entirely original.

Furthermore, the Level 3 Competency Standard Case Study submission must contain no content whatsoever (even a phrase) that is plagiarized or copied from any other source, including SAFM curriculum transcripts/slides, AFMC sample exam and exam preparation materials, textbooks, published journal articles, or third-party resources, any example of which will be considered as plagiarism and an overt violation of this policy.

Study groups are encouraged in preparation for the AFMC Level 1 and Level 2 exams. For the AFMC Level 3 exam, however, candidates must certify that all preparation for and work on the Competency Case Study has been completed entirely by the candidate on their own and with no guidance from or involvement of any other individual.

Cheating at any level – to any degree – within SAFM’s exam process is unacceptable and in violation of this agreement and SAFM Code of Conduct.

Any discovered exception to the above requirements and restrictions will result in immediate candidate notification of suspected violation. Parties will be given a one-time opportunity to speak for their actions and clarify any misunderstanding. Confirmed violations, in the sole judgment of the AFMC review committee, whether at the time of examination or at any time in the future, will result in the removal of the student from eligibility to earn the

AFMC certification both in the current exam window and at any time in the future, without compensation. The AFMC review committee’s decision will be final.

The examination process is overseen by SAFM’s AFMC Scientific Review Council composed of experts in the fields of functional medicine, clinical practice, and health coaching, and health and wellness entrepreneurship.
The Council applies a rigorous exam development process to ensure the accuracy, clarity, relevance, and objectivity of every AFMC exam.

Questions regarding this policy, please contact SAFM Support.

AFMC PRACTITIONER DIRECTORY LISTING TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The following Terms and Conditions are between Purpose Inc., 137 Concord Rd, Sudbury, MA 01776 (“School of Applied Functional Medicine™” and/or “SAFM”) and any SAFM graduate with an active Applied Functional Medicine Certification (“AFMC”) credential (“Participant”) and define use of the AFMC Practitioner Directory (“Directory”), an online database of actively certified graduates of the SAFM Applied Functional Medicine Training Program (Program).

The Directory is accessible via the SAFM Applied Functional Medicine Certification website (“AFMC Website”), an extension of SchoolAFM.com (“Program Website”), for the purpose of connecting patients and clients, healthcare hiring managers, and health professionals working in various clinical environments with licensed and certified practitioners who have successfully met all requirements of the SAFM Applied Functional Medicine Certification and signed agreement to the SAFM AFMC Terms and Conditions of Certification.

The Participant is invited to create a profile listing in the Directory for professional use only as a benefit of AFMC certification and, in doing so, acknowledge and agree to the following listing terms and conditions:

AFMC graduates are listed in the Directory upon confirmation, by SAFM, of a passing score on the AFMC Level 3 exam.

SAFM will issue an email invitation to the Participant with instructions for updating Directory profile data.

SAFM is not responsible for any inaccurate, out-of-date, or missing information in any Directory profile. Participants assume full responsibility for entering and updating their Directory profile data.

Participants listed in the Directory are referred to as “AFMC Practitioners” and not “functional medicine practitioners”. Functional medicine is an approach to healthcare guided by specific tenets and principles and should not be used in any profile description to convey any additional modality, license, or title to a practitioner. There exists no functional medicine certifying body anywhere (in the U.S. or otherwise). For this reason, the AFMC credential, like those issued by similar educational programs, represents fulfillment of a set of rigorous requirements defined by SAFM and guided by key functional medicine tenets, a demonstrated understanding of a unique body of knowledge, and competency in the application of that knowledge. The AFMC credential is validated and awarded by a council of health professionals who have demonstrated expert integration and application of functional medicine science and principles within their own area of licensure or certification and chosen to share their clinical practice experience and passion for the purpose of developing other practitioners.

All use of the Directory is at the Participant’s own risk. SAFM does not guarantee patient or client referrals or make practitioner recommendations of any kind. The Directory database is a free tool, open to the public and SAFM does not, in any way, screen public users.

Should AFMC Certification lapse, the Participant’s profile will reflect the title “Certification Inactive” and all Participant business information will no longer be visible.
SAFM will make every attempt to ensure the Participant’s profile reflects accurate AFMC Certification date and status.

SAFM reserves the right, at any time for any reason, to edit or remove from the Directory any AFMC practitioner not adhering to the Terms and Conditions of SAFM AFMC Practitioner Certification.

SAFM reserves the right to change these Terms and Conditions or to impose new conditions on use of the Directory at any time. The revised Terms and Conditions will be posted on the AFMC Website and communicated to the Participant via email.

For questions or technical issues with the Directory, please contact SAFM Support.