ASLM Accreditation in Lifestyle Medicine
(AALM)
Our members asked, so we’ve delivered!
Australasia’s peak Lifestyle Medicine Association offers premium education in Lifestyle Medicine.
Join our growing cohort of hundreds of Lifestyle Medicine Practitioners endorsed by ASLM.
Global perspective, locally contextualised.
Enrolments are now open for our September 2024 intake
Start your Lifestyle Medicine Education journey today!
ASLM Accreditation in Lifestyle Medicine (AALM) is an RACGP, ACRRM & AMA CPDHome approved CPD activity covering all 3 activity types.
GPs can gain their entire annual RACGP, AMA CPD Home or ACRRM CPD requirements with the one course and we will upload to your dashboard upon graduation.
Why Lifestyle Medicine is important to your practice
Course Overview
Features include:
- Access to approx. 80 hours of online, interactive, evidence-based content; released as you move through the stages of the program:
- Stage 1: Foundations of Lifestyle Medicine, Socioeconomic Determinants of Health and Behaviour Change
- Stage 2: The 6 Pillars of Lifestyle Medicine
- Stage 3: Skills and Tools for the Application of Lifestyle Medicine in practice and to specific conditions (including a Health Coaching mini course)
- Stage 4: First Nations Health and Lifestyle Medicine
- Global perspective, locally contextualised. Incorporating the challenges and opportunities that exist within the Australian and New Zealand health systems, Australian Indigenous and Maori and Pasifika healthcare and models, epidemiological and interventional studies, and alignment to the global evidence-base of Lifestyle Medicine and the ASLM position statements.
- Application-based written assessments. Submitted online and marked throughout the program with feedback provided (no exams)
- Attendance requirement for networking, continuous professional development and social connection
- Peer-led study group access
- Flexible study periods to suit your schedule
The ASLM Accreditation in Lifestyle Medicine is an interactive, immersive program which will provide learners with the attitudes and theoretical knowledge behind Lifestyle Medicine. It builds on that foundation with the practical skills to enable Lifestyle Medicine theory to be used in professional and personal life.
Our program has been developed using a state-of-the-art Learning Management System. It will offer learners a self-paced program, incorporating continuous assessment; helping to reinforce and complement learning. The program will consist of four levels with all learners beginning their journey with the “Foundations of Lifestyle Medicine” course, learners will be completing in-person requirements and assessments at milestones throughout.
ASLM’s Accreditation in Lifestyle Medicine educates from a global perspective, locally contextualised. Designed to bring in the information, challenges and opportunities that exist within the global evidence-base of Lifestyle Medicine, contextualised for the Australian and New Zealand health systems. It will incorporate Australian Indigenous health care and models such as Medical Yarn Ups (MYUs), Maori and Pasifika modules and align to AU/NZ epidemiological studies where relevant, as well as the ASLM position statements on the six pillars of Lifestyle Medicine.
Upon completion, healthcare practitioners will be endorsed as an ASLM Accredited Lifestyle Medicine Doctor or Practitioner (as appropriate to their existing qualifications).
Explore the Path to Lifestyle Medicine Mastery in your Practice!
Our comprehensive course is designed to empower you with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential for a holistic assessment of the impact of lifestyle and other determinants on patient health.
- Dive deep into the current medical and political landscape’s focus on lifestyle-related disease prevention.
- In the course’s initial phase, immerse yourself in a broad understanding of key lifestyle factors and their health implications. These encompass sleep, healthful eating, physical activity, social connection, avoidance of harmful substances, and mental wellbeing.
- As you progress through the program, you’ll gain expertise in conducting lifestyle-centred consultations. Develop skills in history-taking, craft effective lifestyle management plans, and harness health coaching and motivational interviewing techniques.
- Your journey culminates with a diverse assessment approach—formative MCQs at the end of each module, written assignments, and compelling case studies. Choose a case study topic aligned with your interests, whether it’s pain management, optimising sleep, promoting physical activity, and more.
- Expect to complete the course program in approximately six months, allowing ample time to savour the wealth of content through our advanced online learning system. Rest assured, we maintain flexibility to ensure your busy schedule accommodates your study period.
Join us on this transformative expedition into Lifestyle Medicine in the Australian/New Zealand healthcare systems and settings!
Application and Process
Enrolments are now open for our September 2024 intake – join our growing cohort!
Need to know more information? Please let us know here.
Eligibility Criteria:
AALM is suitable for those holding a bachelor level qualification or higher in a health-related discipline. (This includes, but is not limited to, medical doctors (including GPs and Specialists) allied healthcare practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, dieticians, nutritionists, naturopaths, counsellors, OTs, physiotherapists, social workers, health promotion and public health professionals and educators.)
ASLM is committed to furthering Lifestyle medicine education. If your qualifications do not match our minimum requirements, but you feel as if you have other relevant experience, then please contact us at and we can discuss what options may be available.
In addition, support for learners will be provided throughout the program and will be made available once the learner has signed up.
The ASLM Accreditation has 3 parts:
Step1: Completion of Online Course Content
Step 2: Attendance at an ASLM Annual Conference (or other approved event, in-person or virtual)
Step 3: Successful Completion of Online Assessments
Why Lifestyle Medicine is important to your practice
Following completion of the ASLM Accreditation learners will be eligible to join a Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Program, managed by ASLM. Completion of the requirements of this will nullify the need to resit the program after 10 years. By purchasing the full program learners will get the first year of the Maintenance of Accreditation included.
(Please note: ASLM/IBLM Board Certified awardees already enrolled into the MOC will only need to complete one program to maintain both certifications)
Training in lifestyle medicine is proposed in response to the current public health emergency in lifestyle-related non-communicable diseases (Hay et al., 2017). The Long-Term National Health Plan (Australian Government, 2019), the National Preventive Health Strategy (DoH, 2021), Primary Health Care Ten-Year Plan and the 2030 Mental Health Vision all signal a shift towards preventative medicine, in which lifestyle medicine has a central role.
Furthermore, cultural aspects of health inequalities are becoming increasingly evident (Sundmacher et al., 2011). There is a current movement in higher education (Singh, 2010) and medicine, to decolonise curriculum, recognising the diversity of healthcare professionals and the populations they serve (Nazar et al., 2015). By its very nature, skilfully delivered lifestyle medicine will include careful consideration of culture as a vehicle for lifestyle change (Katz, 2014) and thus this program provides a potential way to address this.
Accreditation demonstrates your commitment to, and expertise in, Lifestyle Medicine, augmenting your clinical or public health practice, with a solid grounding in preventing, managing and reversing chronic and lifestyle-related disease.
- An investment in your medical future
- Global Community of like-minded health professionals
- Professional Credibility
- Early adopters to share the evidence-based field of LM
- Positive impact on the wider society
- Personal well-being
Frequently Asked Questions
Intakes occur in February, June, and September of each year.
Once enrolled, learners can work at their own pace, and have a maximum period of 18 months to complete the course.
AALM is suitable for those holding a bachelor level qualification or higher in a health-related discipline. (This includes, but is not limited to, medical doctors (including GPs and Specialists) allied healthcare practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, dieticians, nutritionists, naturopaths, counsellors, OTs, physiotherapists, social workers, health promotion and public health professionals and educators.)
We recognise that some careers follow non-standard routes. If you do not fit one of these categories but are still interested in studying then please contact us directly to discuss eligibility.
Yes, to pass the AALM program all learners are required to have accumulated 10 in-person CPD hours. This requirement can be satisfied via attendance at the ASLM Annual Conference, or a combination of other approved ASLM events (in-person or virtual).
Please contact us to discuss.
(Please note: all AALM enrollees receive discounted conference ticket price, regardless of date of purchase).
If you attended either LM2022 (Cairns) or LM2023 (Melbourne) in-person, then this will count towards your in-person learning requirement.
(If you have attended another Lifestyle Medicine conference, please contact us to discuss.)
No. The nature of the AALM program is that of a spiral, whereby further content becomes available once you have submitted the assessment of the content you have been studying. All learners will start with “Lifestyle Medicine: A Foundation Course” and upon submitting the assessment for this module will then have access to the individual pillar courses. This is similar in principle to University learning.
No, the ASLM Accreditation recognises that evidence-based learning theories indicate that adult learners have a preference for constructing knowledge in a self-directed and collaborative manner. They also prefer to apply this knowledge to their individual cultural, societal, and clinical contexts.
As a result, we have developed written assessments that can be applied to each clinician’s unique interests and patient outcomes, among other factors, whilst still adhering to Lifestyle Medicine Competencies. Please note this course also aligns to the RACGP 2024 curriculum.
The AALM program is delivered in four stages, each building on the previous one. This is the similar to the scaffolded learning framework outlined by level 8 & 9 of the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) used in Australian and New Zealand university postgraduate curriculum.
The ASLM Accreditation has five (5) written assessments designed to synthesise your knowledge, and apply the skills learned in each stage to ensure your proficiency as a healthcare practitioner with expertise in evidence-based Lifestyle Medicine.
Please be aware that post-nominals can only be granted by courses approved by a Registered Training Organisation in Australia. While certified physicians and professionals overseas sometimes use the post-nominals ‘DipLM’ (meaning ‘Diplomate’), this does not apply in the Australian context due to the strict requirements of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA). The use of terms such as ‘Certificate’ and ‘Diploma’ and their abbreviations ‘Cert’ and ‘Dip’ are reserved for nationally accredited courses, which Board Certification is not. Therefore, to avoid potential confusion or misrepresentation, you are not permitted to use DipLM or any post-nominals related to your certification in Australia. We take credentialing and the presentation of credentials very seriously.
However, you are allowed to describe your Accreditation in words (not as post-nominals) in your bio or email signature. For example, once graduated you may use:
- “ASLM Accredited Lifestyle Medicine Doctor (or Practitioner)” or “A Registered Nurse with a Special Interest in Lifestyle Medicine” or “ASLM Accredited Lifestyle Medicine Public Health Professional”– as appropriate to your existing healthcare qualifications and registration.
No. ASLM is the peak Professional Association for Lifestyle Medicine practitioners in Australasia and the Pacific. ASLM provides Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and short courses to supplement a healthcare practitioner’s existing knowledge and qualification/s.
ASLM courses are designed to:
- develop a professional Lifestyle Medicine workforce by improving the knowledge and skills of health professionals in Lifestyle Medicine
- Improve interaction and collaboration between health professionals in multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches
- Foster and support learners in their practice and development of Lifestyle Medicine
- Engage more medical and allied healthcare practitioners to practice and promote Lifestyle Medicine
Our courses do not provide nationally recognised qualifications such as a Bachelor’s degree. However, some of our courses, such as ASLM Accreditation in Lifestyle Medicine, provide recognition of prior learning (RPL) pathways towards foundational subjects in our partner University’s Postgraduate Courses, such as the Master, Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma of Lifestyle Medicine at James Cook, Southern Cross and Avondale Universities.
ASLM Accreditation in Lifestyle Medicine is internationally recognised with reciprocal acceptance across the globe. Applications for accreditation by the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZGP) and the World Lifestyle Medicine Organisation (WLMO) in Geneva, Switzerland are currently also being prepared.
All of our courses provide pathways to Fellowship of the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine.
ASLM is an approved RACGP, AMA CPDHome and ACRRM CPD provider and the ASLM Accreditation is an approved RACGP, AMA CPDHome & ACRRM activity.
Upon completion of this credential, graduates will be endorsed as an ASLM Accredited Lifestyle Medicine Doctor or Practitioner.
- The ASLM Accreditation in Lifestyle Medicine (AALM) does not grant the right to practice as a health practitioner independently. Instead, it enhances the skill set of existing health professionals by equipping them with additional competencies in Lifestyle Medicine.
Yes. You can pay by monthly installments over four months. Please enrol via the “enrol now (pay by instalments)” button above.
Yes. AALM provides a clear pathway to Fellowship for those who wish to obtain their education directly with ASLM.
AALM contributes one-third (480/1440) of the points, and competency in the Foundations Domain required for Fellowship.
In accordance with international standards, health care professionals must recertify in a chosen field every 10 years. The maintenance of certification program was created as an alternative to that. Failure to join or adhere to the requirements would mean you must repeat the accreditation in 10 years.
No, ASLM Fellows are not required to complete the Accreditation. Fellowship signifies that you are already practicing at an advanced level and have been honoured with our highest accolade. The Accreditation, on the other hand, offers a structured pathway to Fellowship for those seeking to attain their Foundations domain through ASLM education. However, it’s worth noting that some Fellows have opted to undertake the Accreditation as a means of maintaining their professional development or acquiring CPD hours with their respective associations.
Contact Us
To find out more about the ASLM Accreditation in Lifestyle Medicine, please contact us at and we will be happy to answer your queries.
It is not compulsory to become a member of the ASLM to sign up for the ASLM Accreditation. Of course, we hope you see value in the benefits it provides, from free and discounted events and courses to being part of a community of like-minded healthcare professionals. Our network is growing through your support to the Charity, and with that increases the opportunity to get lifestyle medicine education to where it’s needed the most.
Get in touch
Contact us today
Our team are here to assist you with any enquiries. Please email our office or submit a contact form today.
Phone: +61 3 7020 6996
