We are celebrating FMCA’s 6th Birthday!
In the last six years, the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy (FMCA) has seen exponential growth, alongside Functional Medicine and health coaching industries! Here are our top six accomplishments from the last six years:
Reaching Thousands
FMCA is proud to connect with a network of over 60,200 people on Functional Medicine and how to become a health coach! In the six years since our founding, FMCA has graduated over 3,000 Functional Medicine Health Coaches (FMCHC). Our FMCA Health Coach Certification Program is fully online, and draws students from around the world, from a variety of different industries and backgrounds. We now have FMCA students and alumni represented in over 60 countries!
“Recalling memories from 6 years ago and as one of only a handful of international students, as well as being the first where I was based, I could not have begun to imagine the velocity with which the growth of that FMCA international community would take place! Now as FMCA’s International Relations Coordinator, I’ve witnessed the growth of graduates in over 60 countries as well as constellations of our shining, guiding-star FMCHC communities in several parts of the globe! Not only are they lighting up and changing lives with their Functional Medicine Coaching skills, they are giving positivity and strengths to people and places that would otherwise have never known them. Truly inspiring to imagine what the future holds!” – Mahnaz Malik, FMCHC, NBC-HWC, FMCA International Relations Coordinator, Admissions Team Member, and Course Facilitator
Curriculum Evolution
From our inception, our curriculum was designed and delivered in collaboration with The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM). As the industry has grown, so has FMCA! By continuously evolving our curriculum with cutting-edge research and industry-leading educators in Functional Medicine, Functional Nutrition, Positive Psychology, Mind-Body Medicine, Art and Science of Coaching, and business in our Career Navigator, we are proud to provide the gold standard in health coaching certification. Our program is designed to be completed from anywhere in the world, and we received the United States Distance Learning Association’s (USDLA) Excellence in Teaching/Training Award for 2020. This award recognizes FMCA for teaching that demonstrates extraordinary achievements and effective learning facilitated through technology with measurable outcomes.
“In 2015, when FMCA launched a beta class with 26 students, health coaching was in its infancy. There were no industry standards, few training programs, and not many medical practices or businesses were hiring health coaches. That was then. This is now: health coaching is a legitimate profession with its own board-certification through the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching; it’s cited as one of the hottest growing fields, and the demand for health coaches is soaring. FMCA is meeting that demand and, in six years, has grown to become the gold standard for health coaching education.” –Sandra Scheinbaum, PhD, FMCA CEO and Founder
FMCA Career Navigator
In March of 2019, we launched our FMCA Career Navigator as a part of our innovative health coaching training. Our business curriculum is designed to take the stress out of launching your coaching career after graduation, by applying proven strategies, tactics, and tools to create a successful health coaching business and/or become a valued member of a collaborative care team. In the FMCA Career Navigator, you’ll learn from our powerhouse of business and marketing gurus, including empowerment specialist Mary Morrissey, professional development expert Michael Bernoff, fitness and nutrition expert JJ Virgin, sales conversion mentor Lisa Sasevich, marketing guru Dean Jackson, financial mogul Krisstina Wise. Our team of business leaders will show you how to get the basics down and then customize everything so you can create the coaching career you envision for yourself.
“FMCA has evolved from being a great health coaching training program in 2015 to the gold standard coach training program in 2021. When I think back to what the program was when I went through it—and how it is now—there’s no comparison. We are preparing our coaches for the complexities of the clients they will see in today’s world. The growth our coaches experience is dramatic and life changing.” – Patty Bean, FMCHC, NBC-HWC, FMCA Senior Course Facilitator
National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC) Approved Training Program
In March of 2019, FMCA became an approved training program by the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC). Since then, FMCHC’s who have sat for the board exam have had a 91% pass rate, exceeding average pass rate for the exam, and earning the additional credential of NBC-HWC. As of April 2021, NBHWC announced health and wellness coaches will have a unique taxonomy code, marking a giant step forward for the health coaching profession by demonstrating the important role health and wellness coaches play in healthcare, and moving toward coaches being able to bill for insurance in the future.
Functional Medicine On The Rise
In 2017, The Huffington Post reported that half of all U.S. adults have an expensive-to-treat chronic disease like cancer, diabetes or heart disease, which accounts for 86 percent of all healthcare spending, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The Nutrition Business Journal 2020 reported that a rising awareness of a more holistic approach to health is driving the growth of alternative medicine, being influenced by new research and healthcare innovations. The $18 billion alternative health industry is expected to generate a revenue of $210.81 billion by 2026, and is projected to expand 17.07% during the forecast period!
“Since FMCA started 6 years ago, I have seen the excitement, energy and interest in health coaching grow, especially in the Functional Medicine area. New doctors see the value of having coaches in their practice. We are seeing more innovative companies using health coaches as the primary contact for clients. While six years ago, I felt like we were still pushing a rock up a hill, I feel that we have reached the plateau and the momentum will carry us over to greater and greater acceptance and presence in doctor’s practices and through other high-tech health vehicles.” – Holly Ladd, FMCHC, FMCA Senior Course Facilitator and Alumni Program Facilitator
Health Coaching Becoming Mainstream
Until ten years ago, health coaching was almost unheard of, but in the past few years it has experienced exponential growth as one of the fastest-growing careers in the US. Just in the last six years, the term “Health Coach” was Google searched 61% worldwide! The benefits of health coaching have been featured front and center in major news outlets such as Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and NPR. More and more mainstream corporate businesses such as Apple, Delta Airlines, and Humana are hiring in-staff health coaches to boost overall employee health. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 127,100 health educators and community health workers (health coaches) employed nationwide in 2019, compared to 99,400 in 2012. By 2029, this employment figure is projected to increase by 17,000 to 144,100, which implies 13% growth over the 10-year period!
“Our intention was simple. To transform healthcare and impact lives positively world-wide. What’s evolved from this seed of intention is a phenomenal global movement that is bigger than ourselves and what we could ever imagine. Together, we’re putting the WE in wellness.” – Elyse Wagner, MS, CN, LMHCA, FMCA Co-Founder and Chief Wellness Officer
The health coaching industry is now forecasted to be a $7 billion service market, according to Marketdata LLC, and we are proud to be a part of changing healthcare as we know it. These last 6 years have been transformative, and we’re so excited for the future of the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy.
Published: October 8, 2021
Are you ready to be a part of the movement that’s transforming healthcare? Download our Info Packet!
