Integrative Health & Wellness Coaching FAQs

Are there pre-requisites for this program?

Yes. AWCIM has focused the IHW Coaching program on theory, process, and skills development to master coaching. The integrative health and wellness knowledge is taught through our other educational offerings including our IM Fellowship, Integrative Health & Lifestyle program (IHeLp), IM Residency training, and Wellness & Lifestyle Series.

Coaching students must complete one of our programs or an equivalent training. Talk to an admissions expert to help you decide which one. If you feel you have this training already, contact admissions to determine if you are eligible to apply today.

Do I have to be a graduate of an AWCIM program?

No, you don’t. AWCIM recognizes many other education programs and pathways where potential applicants may have garnered integrative health, medicine, and wellness education. 

But all graduates of our AWCIM IM Fellowship, Integrative Health & Lifestyle program (IHeLp),  or IM Residency training are eligible to apply, as long as they meet the other eligibility. If you’ve earned the certificate from AWCIM's Wellness & Lifestyle Series and you have a Bachelor’s or an AA with years of experience in a health or wellness field, you are eligible to apply as well.

Talk with admissions to find out if you can apply for coaching without earning a AWCIM integrative health, medicine, or wellness certificate.

Who is NOT eligible?

If you do not have a college degree and no past education in integrative health, medicine, or wellness, you are not eligible to apply for our coaching program. 

If you are unsure of eligibility, please contact our admissions group.

Which Integrative Health & Wellness Coaching path is best for me?

Choose the Integrative Health Coach certification path

If you don’t already have extensive integrative health or medicine training, your first step would be to complete one of our training programs. Certificate completion of our Wellness & Lifestyle Series is also an option. Talk to an admissions expert to help you decide which one. If you feel you have this training already, contact admissions to determine if you are eligible to apply today.

Choose the Wellness Coach certification path

  • If you have a Bachelor’s degree, but aren’t a healthcare professional (see eligible professions lists) Note, applicants with an Associate’s degree with years of health or wellness experience will be considered.

If you don’t already have extensive integrative health or medicine training, your first step would be to complete our Wellness & Lifestyle Series certificate. If you feel you have this training already, contact admissions to determine if you are eligible to apply today.

What would my time commitment be?

IHW Coaching is approximately a 6-month program. Participants spend approximately 8-10 hours of home-based study per week. Each week may include any of the following: online coursework, self-care activities, video-conferencing with mentor and peers, online faculty-moderated dialogues, participation in live trainings and practice in small mentored groups via Zoom. Please review the IHW Coaching Overview PDF for a detailed outline of units and diversity of educational delivery. Participants must maintain current academic progress throughout the 6 months of the program.

Up to an additional 6 months is granted after program completion for the student to complete and document the required practices hours for certification.

What will I receive upon graduation from this program?

After successful completion of all program and certification requirements, you will receive a certificate verifying certification as either an Integrative Health Coach or Wellness Coach from the University of Arizona Center of Integrative Medicine, as well as being listed on our IHW Coach Graduates list on our website.

Can I receive continuing education credit for completing the Program?

Continuing education credit is not currently available. We will continue to investigate this need.

What role does Dr. Weil play in the program?

As the Director of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, Dr. Weil guides our initiatives, including this program. He is not an instructor for the program, but continues to contribute to curriculum development.

When can I apply to the Program?

At any time. Ideally you will have completed your integrative health, medicine and wellness pre-requisite, but applications can be submitted and will remain in pending until all eligibility requirements are met.  Check application deadlines from the main Integrative Health & Wellness Coaching page and be sure to look at early application incentives. Contact admissions with any questions.

Which license, registration, certifications (I have at least two) should I submit in the application process?

For the Integrative Health Coach pathway, please submit ALL of your current Licenses/Registrations/Certifications according to the application instructions.

If you are on the Wellness Coach path, you will only need to provide a current CV or resume during the online application process. If you have training from other institutions, submission of proof of completion of that training may be required.

The tuition is prohibitive for me. Are there any scholarships or financial aid funds available?

Since the program is not a degree-granting program with the University of Arizona, there is no financial aid available through federally sponsored student loans. We do have some scholarships available depending on generous donor support. Find more info here > Coaching Scholarships

Are there payment plan options?

There are a number of payment plans available - 2 payments (first and fourth month) or 6 payments (monthly). Also consider talking with your employer about sponsoring you for some of the enrollment expenses.

What do I need to know about Coaching Partners for Practice hours?

As part of the AWCIM Integrative Health Coaching Program, you are required to have 75 hours of IHW coaching. About 14 weeks into your program, after your second Practical Skills Assessment, you will begin to practice with coaching partners in 1:1 sessions. It will be your responsibility to find a minimum of 10 practice coaching partners. As part of our certification requirements, you will need 75 hours of integrative health coaching with these practice partners. These sessions can be done in person, over the phone, or on video chat. You will document, through a simple online form, who are your practice partners, signed consent from them, and length of sessions. Of the 75 hours, 5 of these sessions will be supervised and evaluated by your mentor-supervisor throughout the second half of the program. See the IHW Coaching Overview PDF for more details about certification requirements or talk to our AWCIM Admissions team.

What is MITI?

An important element of the training program is around improving Motivational Interviewing skills to support behavior change. To ensure competency is being attained, the use of the MITI has been adopted. MITI is an evaluation tool done by a third party. It stands for the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity. You will participate in coaching conversations that will be audio recorded and submitted to a third party for evaluation. You will receive an initial base-line score, and then the sample audio captured in a later session will count towards your program completion.

How do our students use their IHW Coaching Certification?

While some students are transitioning to Integrative Health or Wellness Coaching as their sole profession, many others plan to enhance their current practice. Some enhancements include having a successful approach to support patients/clients to reach their health and wellbeing goals, adopt preventative strategies to decrease chronic disease risks, and live healthier, more satisfied lives. Others will wish to incorporate health coaches into their practice, academic clinics, research projects and want to fully understand this approach.

What are the technical requirements for my computing devices?

As our learning platform is web-based, the most essential requirements for your devices are that they:

  1. run the most up-to-date, secure web browser(s) available and
  2. connect to reliable high-speed (broadband) Internet.

With these two essential points in mind, we support a wide range of devices: Windows and Mac computers, Chromebooks, iPads, mid-range or better Android tablets, and mid-range or better smartphones.

Your device will need to be able to open PDFs for viewing, either natively or through an app. We recommend that you have a note taking or text editing app so that you can compose and save responses to questions and assignments, and copy/paste them into the learning platform for submission.

You will need video conferencing capability on your device (microphone and video camera).

If you are looking to buy a new device, we recommend:

  • processor speed 1.1 GHz or higher
  • for computers, 4 GB of RAM or higher
  • for tablets and smartphones, 2 GB of RAM or higher

If you are using a Windows machine, we strongly recommend using Windows 10.

You MUST use the latest, secure version of a modern web browser: Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Microsoft Edge. We do not support older, out-of-date versions of web browsers.

You must have a reliable high-speed Internet connection. If you are using a mobile device, we recommend connecting to secure WiFi when possible.

While technically possible, we do not recommend using a smartphone as your primary device for completing curriculum. The learning content contains complex interactions, charts, and diagrams, and a small screen will hamper your ability to use and understand these.


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