Become an ALSO® approved instructor or advisory faculty

Steps to become an ALSO approved instructor

Only courses in the United States and the territories of Guam and Puerto Rico are tracked by the the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). Learners and instructors of these courses will find their ALSO course history, status wallet card, letter of participation and CME in their AAFP accounts.

  1. Anyone with an ALSO status may attend an ALSO Instructor Course, earning ALSO instructor candidate status.

  2. Within one year of completing the ALSO Instructor Course, the ALSO instructor candidate must teach at an ALSO or Basic Life Support in Obstetrics (BLSO™) course while an advisory faculty observes and completes the instructor candidate evaluation, giving that document to the course sponsor to keep on file for two years.

  3. If the advisory faculty recommends the instructor candidate for approved instructor status, the sponsor indicates the recommendation on their course dashboard prior to submitting it to the AAFP.

  4. The new ALSO approved instructor will receive a congratulatory email with a link to access their new approved instructor wallet card in their AAFP account.

Status period: Three years

Status maintenance: ALSO approved instructor status is maintained by meeting these requirements during each status period:

  1. Teach at least two times at an ALSO or BLSO course.

  2. Complete each edition of the online Instructor Renewal course (new edition every three years).

If requirements are met, status renews in the account on the expiration date printed on their current wallet card in their AAFP account. An updated wallet card will be in the account the following day. If requirements are not met, the status will expire and the status life cycle begins again with the need to attend an ALSO course and ALSO Instructor Course.

Steps to become an ALSO advisory faculty

  1. An ALSO approved instructor completes their portion of the advisory faculty application and serves as a course director at an ALSO course while a current advisory faculty observes and completes their portion of the advisory faculty application, giving that document to the course sponsor to keep on file for two years.

  2. If the advisory faculty recommends the approved instructor for advisory faculty status, the sponsor indicates the recommendation on their course dashboard prior to submitting it to the AAFP.

  3. The sponsor collects the advisory faculty application, CV and letter of interest and keeps all documents on file for two years.

  4. The new ALSO advisory faculty will receive a congratulatory email with a link to access their new advisory faculty wallet card in their AAFP account.

Status period: Three years. Same expiration and/or renewal date as the approved instructor status.

Status maintenance: Status expires or renews in tandem with the approved instructor status.

If requirements are met, status renews in the account on the expiration date printed on their current wallet card. An updated wallet card will be in the account the following day. If requirements are not met, the status will expire and the status life cycle begins.

Note: The evaluations and applications are available from the sponsor’s course materials webpage and must be completed at the course in which the candidate is serving and being recommended. Names may be included in reports for sponsors who are looking for faculty in their area.

Instructor frequently asked questions

Anyone with a current ALSO status can attend an ALSO Instructor Course and find results by state.

To maintain your ALSO approved instructor status, you must meet two requirements every three years:

  • Teach in at least two courses in the U.S., Guam or Puerto Rico*.
  • Complete the ALSO online Instructor Renewal Course, in which participants review all updated content, attest to reviewing it and claim credit upon completion.

*Please note: ALSO approved instructors with five-year status are still required to teach in three courses. Upon your expiration date, if you meet the teaching requirements and complete the ALSO online Instructor Renewal Course, you will renew for three more years.

If your ALSO approved instructor status has expired, you must do all the following to regain your status:

  • Attend an ALSO course.
  • Attend an ALSO Instructor Course.
  • Teach in an ALSO or Basic BLSO course to be observed and recommended by an approved instructor again.
  • See the status life cycle document for more information.

Your ALSO approved instructor status and expiration date are located on your ALSO wallet card. For AAFP members, this is found in your AAFP transcript, for nonmembers, is in your AAFP account, along with your letter of participation. In addition, teaching instances are recorded in the AAFP account or transcript each time an individual is listed as an instructor on a course dashboard.

No. Keep in mind that learners spend hours preparing for the ALSO live course by completing the online course. Additionally, to keep the course schedule on track, instructors must adhere strictly to the time allotted for their skills workstations.

We encourage non-ALSO approved instructors to obtain the most up-to-date version of the ALSO instructor manual (.pdf).

Please note that this manual and the ALSO manual are available to all ALSO approved instructors as part of the ALSO online Instructor Renewal Course.

Upon completing the Instructor Course, the learners are considered ALSO instructor candidates. To become an ALSO approved instructor, you must teach in an ALSO or BLSO course within one year of your ALSO live Instructor Course date and have a current advisory faculty observe your teaching skills. The advisory faculty must complete an evaluation form, which the sponsor will keep on file for two years. The sponsor will check the box for ‘recommend approved instructor’ next to your name on the dashboard, submitted after the live course.

Search for ALSO courses in AAFP Global Search.

Most course sponsors are open to inviting an advisory faculty to be on site to observe the instructor candidate teaching workstations and group testing and recommending them for approved instructor.

Yes. Consider your faculty and course circumstances and use your best judgment about your capabilities to serve in both roles at your course.

Yes. Each course is required to have an advisory faculty to consult with during their planning and execution of the course, if needed. They may serve remotely, being fully available to the course director during the live course date and serving on site when needing to observe candidates.

When we have important updates or release new ALSO content editions, we notify ALSO approved instructors and ALSO coordinators in the following ways:

Yes. The AAFP is approved as a provider of CNE by the Kansas State Board of Nursing (KSBN). The online course is approved for nursing contact hours applicable for advanced practice registered nurse (APRN), registered nurse (RN) and licensed practical nurse (LPN) re-licensure. The live course hours depend on each ALSO sponsor’s agenda. Please note that ALSO is an advanced level course and may not be suitable for general CNE.

ALSO sponsors must ensure that the nurse roster is signed by each nurse learner and uploaded to the course dashboard, in order to be included in the annual report the AAFP provides KSBN. The nurse-instructed workstation document must also be completed and uploaded to the course dashboard if there are nurse instructors.

The ALSO online course is an AAFP product that includes the entire ALSO manual as a downloadable PDF. Once a learner has accessed this product, it cannot be returned. Please see the official guidelines on ‘no-show’ learners, below.

If a learner accesses an online course URL and does not attend (regardless of circumstance) they will remain on the sponsor’s dashboard and on the learner online access invoice. The learner may register for a future live course and will receive a new online course URL to access from that course sponsor. When they access the online course, they will find their existing online course progress or completion. The sponsor of that future course will see the learner on their course dashboard and on their learner online access invoice for that course. This applies whether the two course sponsors are different or the same.

These 3x5 laminated cards allow learners to mix and match obstetrical emergency mnemonics they want to hang on their badge to use as a quick reference in emergency situations.

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