Frequently Asked Questions About IIN

Founded in 1992, what started as a small macrobiotic cooking class in New York City has evolved into a global school that has trained over 155,000 students and graduates in 175 countries with our Health Coach Training ProgramTM. The incredible global IIN community is fulfilling the school’s mission of spreading the ripple effect of health and happiness, impacting millions of people around the world.

While we have a lot to be proud of, our role in creating the profession of health coaching comes with a deep sense of responsibility to protect the integrity of what a Health Coach certificate is (and isn’t), and what it stands for. For this reason, we've outlined the critical elements that set us apart from other health coaching schools:

• IIN created the field of health coaching: We’ve been around the longest, and we take pride in igniting the movement that has created other health coaching schools (many are founded by IIN graduates!), as it demonstrates the need for, and the power of, Health Coaches and their incredible work.
• IIN is dual-licensed by the New York State Education Department and the Ohio State Board of Career Colleges and Schools: This licensure means that our curriculum is regularly reviewed to ensure that our content is both up to date and accurate. Being held to these high standards is important to us, and ensures that we can provide a world-class education that anyone, anywhere can apply to their lives. This also means our graduates can feel confident that their certificate will provide them with a competitive advantage in the job marketplace.
• IIN provides the most comprehensive education that fosters personal transformation and prepares graduates for career success: Students learn from over 95 experts in fields such as integrative health, public health, nutrition, functional medicine, spirituality, alternative healing modalities, business, marketing, and coaching.
• IIN provides the flexibility to learn anytime, anywhere with our state-of-the-art Learning Center platform and mobile app: The Health Coach Training Program can be accessed from our online Learning Center, also now available on the new IIN mobile app. IIN makes a Health Coach education even more accessible by providing students with the power to learn on their schedule and in a way that fits their unique lifestyles and career goals.
• IIN has forged strategic partnerships with coaching organizations and higher education institutions, encouraging graduates to pursue unique professional and personal paths by graduating from The Health Coach Training Program as well as from other courses, such as Coaching Intensive Practicum (CIP). IIN has earned approval from the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching (NBHWC) to provide graduates of the Coaching Intensive Practicum with eligibility to pursue board certification (students do not have to take the Health Coach Training Program before CIP). Plus, graduates of IIN's Health Coach Training Program and other courses can network as a member of various coaching organizations, pursue a higher education degree, or earn continuing education units (CEUs) to advance an existing career. For more information, visit our Accreditations & Partnerships page here.
• IIN is the only health coaching school with staff in Washington, D.C. who are advancing and advocating for the Health Coach profession: We advocate on behalf of the Health Coach industry by working with leaders and policy makers in government. This advocacy aims to promote the work and value of Health Coaches, which not only impacts the health coaching industry in the U.S., but also around the globe, as more countries catch on to the value that health coaching has on improving health outcomes. Most recently, the approval of CPT codes by the American Medical Association underscore this value, paving the way for health coaching services to eventually be covered by insurance!

IIN is dual-licensed by the New York State Education Department and the Ohio State Board of Career Colleges and Schools. This licensure entails constant oversight from these educational governing bodies as well as periodic review and renewal of our rigorous academic Health Coach Training Program curriculum.

We’re incredibly proud of this licensure, as we aim to provide a robust health coaching education that is held to the highest standards. This licensure also establishes credibility, trust, and value in the certificate you earn.

Several independent third-party membership organizations have undertaken vigorous evaluations of our programs and granted various approvals.

Specifically, IIN has received program approvals from organizations in the U.S. and internationally, such as the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching (NBWHC), the International Coaching Federation (ICF), The Health Coach Alliance, and Health Coaches Australia and New Zealand Association (HCANZA).

Additionally, successful evaluations have resulted in our educational offerings being granted college credit recognition within the U.S. and Level 4 Approval within the United Kingdom. IIN is the only organization that offers education pathways across the globe. Learn more about our recognition and partnerships here.

Discovering your best self and taking those learnings to inspire and empower others is the heart and soul of what we do. We’re not your traditional nutrition program because we take a holistic approach to wellness and explore all of the things that affect your health – think relationships, spirituality, finances, physical activity, creativity, and more. This is integrative nutrition in action!

You'll have the opportunity to explore diverse dietary theories spanning from ancient Eastern Traditions to modern Western medicine, including our own unique core concepts, bio-individuality and primary food. But we’ll never tell you what’s “right” or “wrong,” because we don’t believe in that. We believe there’s no one-size-fits-all diet and as you go through the curriculum, you’ll learn what makes you feel like your best self and how to help clients achieve the same. You are your first client and you may find yourself losing weight, increasing your energy, and saying goodbye to all that negative self-talk. You will fall back in love with the most important person in your life—YOU.

You'll also be on the road to career freedom. We’ll train you to launch a meaningful career as a Health Coach and how to achieve your own personal goals for success. There's no recreating the wheel here. We've made launching the career of your dreams as easy as 1, 2, 3. You’ll hone essential coaching skills with the IINtegrative Coaching MethodTM, as well as learn critical marketing practices like finding your niche market, creating a website, and using social media.

Hear more on the transformational nature of our program from real IIN graduates here.

Our program was designed specifically for adult learners - we give you flexibility to learn in a six-month accelerated track or a 12-month track. The program consists of one Orientation module and 40 core curriculum modules, split into four sections which include a test at the end of each section and an Integration Week to apply what you’ve learned. You'll have opportunities to follow a learning pathway: Personal Transformation or Professional Development, culminating in a Transformation Plan or Business Plan that will be the blueprint for your success (you can also choose to do both!).

Modules are released on a weekly basis in the 12-month track, or 2 modules per week in the six-month accelerated track. Although modules open at a regular cadence, you will be able to go through the content on your own schedule - you don’t need to be online at certain times to be able to complete your program. As long as you complete the program within the allotted time - six months or 12 months - and satisfy your graduation requirements, you can take the program at any pace that works for you.

All learning content is hosted in the online IIN Learning Center, where you’ll access audio and visual lectures, handouts, quizzes, assignments, and tests. The curriculum also contains interactive tools to accommodate all types of learners! You’ll have a private Facebook group where you can interact with classmates and IIN staff about the curriculum and program updates.

You can expect to spend about 5-8 hours per week on your coursework (or 10-16 hours in the accelerated program); how much time you spend really depends on what you want to get out of the program. Just like with anything you're working on: you get out what you put in.

During the program, you will hear from more than 95 visiting faculty and speakers who are experts and thought leaders in the fields of health and wellness. They will provide high-quality and timeless instruction on a variety of topics. You can check some of them out here.

Our faculty hold a number of credentials and qualifications, including advanced degrees and certificates in: Business, Culinary Arts, Education, Feng Shui, Law, Massage Therapy, Acupuncture, Nutrition Science, Dietetics, Personal Training, Photography, Videography, Psychology, Public Health, Website Design, Yoga and Pilates.

In addition to our visiting faculty and speakers, you will hear from resident coaching guides and members of the IIN staff who are also Integrative Nutrition Health Coaches and run coaching practices and other businesses in their spare time.

Our program is designed to give you the knowledge you need to create sustainable lifestyle changes, in yourself as well as in others, such as friends, family, and future clients. Our visiting faculty and teachers, many of whom are functional medicine physicians, PhDs, and researchers, will cover functional nutrition, nutrition science, and anatomy concepts so you’ll have a general sense of how the body functions, how the body utilizes the food you eat, and how our microbiome affects your health.

Utilizing curriculum features such as Science Spotlights, we’ll dive deeper into the science behind important nutrition and wellness concepts so that you are well-equipped to explain these concepts to others, as well as apply the information to your own life. We aim to provide the latest nutrition science information, while staying aware of the ever-changing landscape of nutrition research.

Your work is done completely online in the IIN Learning Center, but that doesn't stop our program from being an interactive experience. The program can be accessed from a smartphone, tablet, or desktop, and in our new mobile app, so whether you're a parent, a working professional, or just super busy, you'll be able to fit this education into your life.

Students have the opportunity to connect with classmates during the program, as well as successful Health Coaches and IIN graduates during live coaching calls to facilitate your coaching skills. The IIN Student Advisor team is also available to help students achieve their best throughout their time with IIN.

The Spanish version of the Health Coach Training Program contains the same curriculum content as the English version. All content within the curriculum will be translated, with Spanish closed captioning or transcripts provided for all lectures. Coaching Circle sessions, the interactive live calls with professional Integrative Nutrition Health Coaches, will be conducted in Spanish with a Spanish-speaking host. The class Facebook group discussion will also be conducted in Spanish. Students in the Spanish program will also have the opportunity to receive support from the IIN Student Advisor team in Spanish.

Upon graduating, you will earn the title of Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, and you will receive both a paper certificate and a digital badge to display your accomplishment across your online channels. We offer a certificate of completion, not a certification.

Currently, no governmental agency requires any health coach certification. However, IIN offers graduates the pathway to certification  and further credentialing so that Integrative Nutrition Health Coaches can continue to set themselves apart from other Health Coaches. Not all health coaching schools provide such certification opportunities, and may make false claims about what you are able to do after graduating from their program.

Learn more about IIN’s pathway to certification:

1. Coaching Intensive Practicum: This course is approved by the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching (NBHWC), which means that graduates of this program will be prepared to apply and sit for the NBHWC board certification exam to become a National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC). The NBHWC was founded by leaders from academic and vocational coaching programs, and aspires to standardize the education and certification process for Health Coaches around the world. All Health Coach Training Program (HCTP) graduates are eligible to take the Coaching Intensive Practicum, and non-HCTP graduates are also eligible to take the Coaching Intensive Practicum. Learn more about Coaching Intensive Practicum here.
   
   
2. International Association for Health Coaches (IAHC): All IIN Health Coach Training Program graduates are eligible to take the IAHC certification exam, no further courses or education required. This exam tests knowledge on the scope of practice and ethical responsibilities of a Health Coach. Graduates who pass the exam earn the title Certified International Health Coach. The mission of the IAHC is to advocate on behalf of Health Coaches and continue to develop the profession in concert with other healthcare professionals.

The short answer—the possibilities are endless. Our graduates not only create part-time and full-time health coaching businesses, but they spread the ripple effect of health and happiness in a variety of ways and in a variety of fields. Learn more about what some IIN graduates are up to and how IIN transformed their life here.

Our only academic requirements are a high school diploma, GED, or equivalent. However, if you have a passion for health and wellness, a desire for a transformative personal experience and/or career change, and the determination to make a difference in the world, you’ll find success within our program.

There's a ton of buzz about Health Coaches out there right now, which is probably why you're here!

A Health Coach is a wellness professional whose main role is to guide clients to reach their health and wellness goals, whether that’s sleeping better, boosting energy, weight loss, stress management, and so much more. Health Coaches create a safe space for their clients to explore their health, facilitating behavior and lifestyle change that can be sustained for the long-term.

Using their nutrition, holistic health and coaching education, Health Coaches help their clients discover which foods and lifestyle choices make them feel best. Most importantly, Health Coaches take a holistic approach to health, focusing not just on food, but also all the other areas of life that can support and nourish overall health, such as career, spirituality, relationships, and environment. This is an IIN core concept that we call “primary foods,” and IIN Health Coaches utilize this concept in their work to set themselves apart from other Health Coaches.

Health Coaches can work with clients one-on-one or in group settings, or alongside healthcare professionals such as medical doctors, chiropractors, therapists, and nurses, as well as other professionals in wellness such as personal trainers, registered dietitians, and nutritionists.

Health Coaches play a pivotal role in the greater healthcare team, filling the void that is often left by doctors who don’t necessarily have time to provide nutrition and coaching guidance.

IIN graduates have gone on to:

• Partner with doctors in their private practices
• Up level their existing career with their health coaching knowledge - many Health Coaches already have careers in health and wellness
• Become a Health Coach for a wellness center, spa, gym, or health food store
• Open their own wellness centers, spas, gyms, or health food stores
• Create their own products in the food, beauty, or supplement industries
• Become involved with local and federal government to influence health and food policy
• Create their own podcasts and TV shows
• Write books such as cookbooks, how-to books, and self-help books
• And so much more!

To put it simply, Health Coaches are changing the world and reversing the global healthcare crisis. Health Coaching is one of the quickest growing careers and Health Coaches are seriously in demand, so much so that the industry has grown to $7 billion! To learn more about the role of Health Coaches, read our blog post here.

A Health Coach is trained to help clients reach their health goals. They receive training from a qualified program that teaches necessary coaching skills, as well as foundational nutrition information in order to best serve their clients and their health concerns. Health Coaches do not diagnose, nor do they treat. Health Coaches can be part of a larger healthcare team in which they are one part of a client’s health journey, providing a safe space for the client to explore their options on how to improve their own health.

A Registered Dietitian (RD) is a food and nutrition expert who have 1) completed a minimum of a bachelor’s degree with an accredited institution; 2) completed a 6-12 month supervised practice program; 3) passed a national exam and 4) kept up with continuing education requirements, as needed. RD’s are licensed to provide dietary recommendations for their clients based on the client’s medical and individual needs.

For more information, read our blog post on this topic!

It depends! In general, health coaching is yet to be considered a covered service across the board by all insurance providers, but some providers will allow for reimbursement of Health Coach services using FSA/HSA benefits.

That said, we are working tirelessly with policy makers to make health coaching more accessible to all. We have full-time advocacy staff in Washington, D.C., working on behalf of Health Coaches not only in the U.S., but around the world, to establish their value and further the understanding of Health Coaches in the healthcare system.

Most recently, the passing of CPT codes by the American Medical Association underscore this value, paving the way for health coaching services to potentially be covered by most insurance! These codes are what are used by medical professionals to submit services to health insurance companies, and the introduction of health coaching CPT codes is a huge step in the right direction. Read more here.

It’s important to know that recognition of health coaching as a career and of Health Coaches as an essential component of the healthcare system is on the rise. As recognition grows, there are an increasing number of people who are looking for preventative and lifestyle management services from a Health Coach rather than from typical doctors’ visits. Now, more and more people can visit with a Health Coach in addition to visiting with their doctor, all in one place! We talked about the growth of telehealth and telemedicine in this blog post here.

For new Health Coaches establishing their practices, acquiring liability insurance is extremely important. To learn more about this, read on here.

We encourage you to contact us directly to learn more about your financing options, as we offer payment plans and financial assistance. IIN is competitively priced and although you may find a lower priced option, no program delivers more value than ours.

With your tuition, you’ll receive:

• Access to the state-of-the-art IIN Learning Center including the IIN mobile app, IIN Learn, where all of your program materials and student experience will be hosted.
• Access to over 95 visiting faculty, guides, and coaches who will be your teachers throughout the program, teaching everything from functional medicine and nutrition to spirituality.
• Access to exclusive IIN events, including virtual networking, business-building, and inspirational programming.
• Complementary libraries and resources in addition to the curriculum content to further build your holistic health knowledge.
• Comprehensive career-building resources, like done-for-you clients handouts, business cards, coaching program templates, and much more.
• Introductory access to build your own website.
• Eligibility to join a variety of coaching organizations in the U.S. and internationally to support your personal and professional goals.
• Eligibility to apply your Health Coach Training Program education towards continuing education units (CEUs) and higher education degrees through our educational partners around the world.
• Unlimited opportunities to connect with classmates, Health Coaches, and the IIN Student Advisor team.
• And so much more!

We understand that having your finances in line is an important part of your personal balance and happiness, and we want everyone who wants to be part of our community to be able to have that balance. We offer personalized payment plans and (every so often) special offers on our tuition. The tuition reflects our value in this increasingly competitive market, and while we’re the most prestigious and longest-standing health coaching school, we work to keep our tuition prices low enough so that we can provide this valuable education to as many people as possible.

Remember, this is an investment in you and your future. When you invest in yourself by enrolling in our program, not only are you taking steps towards achieving your own goals, but you’ll also contribute to bettering the health of your family and community and can even significantly reduce future medical costs. Maybe you’ll even launch a new and exciting career. Trust us, the opportunities are endless.

We’ve been training people to become Health Coaches for 30 years; no other program can say that. We’ve also trained some of the founders of other health coaching schools, yet our program is the most robust on the market.

We believe in the power to use business to make the world a better place and help those in need, which is why we support likeminded organizations through charitable contributions. Since 2010, we have donated over $2.5 million to over 200 charities worldwide.