SAFM Practitioner Forum Guidelines (R.11)
The SAFM Practitioner Forum is unique. It is an opportunity for practitioners of all modalities, all experience levels, and all backgrounds to engage in a safe, confidential, educational environment for purposes of shared learning and professional support.
To maintain the integrity of this forum, we must maintain and enforce rigorous user guidelines. This is a challenging task! It can be easy for any of us to fall into counterproductive, short-cut habits in light of current social media norms. Unlike myriad online public forums where participants engage in high-level, over-simplified “just gimme the answer” exchanges for many purposes, our SAFM Practitioner Forum is an extension of a school and thus must be run purely as an educational venue with appropriate expectations. Upholding these guidelines can make our Forum Mentors unpopular at times, but we take very seriously our commitment to SAFM values, the integrity of your education, and upholding the vision and purpose of functional medicine.
The mission of the SAFM Practitioner Forum is to increase the education, competence, confidence, connection, and empowerment of all SAFM students in our community.
Your use of the SAFM Practitioner Forum connotes your full agreement with and commitment to abide by the following guidelines. We appreciate that most of our students are very attentive to these guidelines and maintain the integrity of the forum. Offending posts, whether intentional or not, in SAFM’s sole discretion, will be deleted without warning. Repeated violations of the guidelines set forth will result in participant removal from the Forum without compensation. Severe initial offenses will result in immediate removal without warning.
We thank you for your patience and time to thoroughly review these guidelines. We also thank you in advance for your leadership in holding yourself and the entire SAFM community accountable to these guidelines for the mutual benefit of all students.
Top Priority Guidelines
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- In order to maintain an environment of professionally focused, practitioner-to-practitioner exchange and support, the Forum is reserved for professional queries about patient/client cases and NOT for seeking free-of-charge guidance about your own personal or family/friend health challenges. The establishment of a therapeutic relationship and understanding of the full picture through consultation is vital in order to best support a person seeking our guidance. SAFM Custom Consultations are an ideal option to meet this need should you desire something beyond your own current healthcare practitioners.
- Prior to posting, please utilize the following tools in order to maximize the support you receive in the Forum:
- Forum Case Posting Guide and Case Presentation Preparation Sheet. When preparing to present a client/patient case, please utilize these tools as a guide to posting in a succinct, organized and clear manner. This will help your peers and Forum Mentors to respond more effectively in supporting you. The more you apply this process, the easier it will get, while helping you become a more competent Functional Medicine practitioner.
- Before posting a question in the Forum, Do your own research and due diligence first – on the SAFM site (e.g. course materials/comments, Clinical Tips, Q&A Treasure Chest), on the Forum itself, and on other third party resources and research. The Forum is not a substitute for richly experiencing the SAFM course material or for deeper personal study and investigation – the Forum is for extra validation and clarity after you have done your research. The Forum is a resource for further learning, not a short-cut for first learning (i.e. a google substitute). If you need a refresher, we recommend you revisit this Research How To Do and How Not To Do It webinar and Research Guide.
- When posting a new case/question, Always present your own theory/hypothesis first and what you have already learned/discovered, in order to share your own knowledge, assessment or understanding Your colleagues may then learn from you in the same way that you are seeking additional learning from them.
- Through this process of inquiry and exploration, it is our intention that you “learn to fish on your own” vs. just being given some fish over and over again. Yes, this requires patience! It is with a mindset of questioning and probing that that we are able to increase both experience and confidence in our work with patients/clients. Ultimately, we want you to be a truly savvy, confident practitioner, not one who’s just efficient at seeking answers from others. Support your colleagues by choosing more often to tell them where to look vs. telling them what to see. Share more resources for deeper investigation vs. pat answers. This critical skill in processing and organizing your own thinking is the foundation of Functional Medicine and ability to be comprehensive and thorough, but it is simultaneously preparing you to confidently pass the AFMC Level 3 case study exam.
- Remember that our SAFM Practitioner Forum is not a fully moderated resource. In this venue, we give our practitioner family the freedom to express their personal views, ideas, and experience. We do not all have to agree. Ideas are sometimes shared on the Forum which are not consistent with the principles taught within the school. Just because something is posted on the Forum does not make it accurate or applicable to any given case or situation. This is a safe, educational environment where participation is welcome as part of the learning experience. Use your own critical mind and ability to do further research, to vet and choose how you use information shared on the SAFM Practitioner Forum. SAFM assumes no responsibility for any outcomes from whether/how you apply what you learn in the context of your professional practice or your personal health.
- SAFM includes a diverse melting pot of student prior training, credentials, modalities, and experience levels. Honor your own scope of practice and always consider critically your readiness for professionally using what you have learned at any given point (vs. copying what others are doing). Being generally aware of a concept vs. being astutely trained in working with it are two very different things. Be responsible. In following SAFM values, please refrain from offering or applying guidance you aren’t confident with and competent in.
Foundational Guidelines
- The Forum is exclusively for active students in an SAFM semester, Incubator, and Platinum programs. No other members are permitted. Participation is optional. No content shared on the Forum is part of the AFMC certification process. Participants must have their own Facebook account in order to participate.
- The Forum is moderated by several mentors and long-time SAFM students, but this is a community forum. Forum Mentors bring multi-facetted, unique skill and experiences to the Forum. They are here to support and guide your application of SAFM teaching and learning. Be open to the targeted direction they provide. Not all posts will receive mentor feedback. We are focused here on Asking for support and Giving and sharing in return.
- It is not appropriate to private message or tag in a post: Forum Mentors, SAFM team members, or Tracy.
- All Forum posts and exchanges are the confidential property of SAFM and may not be copied/shared to any other platform or third party for any purpose. You acknowledge that your posts may be freely used by SAFM in other content (e.g. Q&A Treasure Chest).
- Questions and sharing in the Forum are welcome on business, technical, and clinical topics. You will be more likely to get support from your colleagues if you ask short, targeted questions vs. long patient case write-ups with many questions. Again, always share your ideas and conclusions first. Don’t ask open-ended questions about which you have done no prior research e.g. “Can anyone tell me what to look for in Parkinson’s?” or “What do you think about these lab results?” or “What is liposomal glutathione and why is it better?”.
- Thank you for sharing your experience and unique perspective. Be respectful of others’ views and ideas. We don’t all have to agree. There are many credible and viable healing paths and avenues in each case situation. We are not here to police each other. Discussion and debate about ideas is encouraged; be open to alternative ideas. Personal insult and disrespect will not be tolerated.
- We adhere to a zero-tolerance policy for solicitation of any type. Please do not post anything soliciting interest in your business ventures or ventures in which you have any personal interest at all e.g. supplement program, marketing program, nutritional program, job promotions or other educational program. This includes private messaging. Don’t post any affiliate links of any type. All links to informational resources should be fully spelled and not bitly shortcuts. Please do not ask members to review or like your Facebook page or webpage. Please refrain from posts requesting recommendations that may lead to others promoting their business interests in response. There will be no political, religious, or other affiliation posts. Any posts that solicit directly or indirectly will be removed from the Forum.
- We will occasionally remind Forum participants about applicable guidelines to ensure they are always fresh in mind. SAFM reserves the right to change the guidelines, platform, and availability of the Forum at any time without prior notice. All Forum content is subject to being deleted at any time without notice. We occasionally clean up!
