FAM Teacher Training Course

The following outline describes the last training course (in Hebrew) held during 2018-2020. A new course in English may be offered in the next few years. Inquiries can be sent to info@poriutivit.com    

Description of Training Course

1. Two academic years, approximately 200 hours of combined face-to-face and online sessions, held approximately two weeks apart.  Students begin their teaching internships before the beginning of the second year. 
2. Most sessions (6 hours with breaks) follow this format: Personal sharing;   discussion of required reading materials and assignments; small group reports and presentations related to teaching workshop modules and to health topics under study;  case studies, chart reviews, book and article reviews; cervical fluid presentations by students and various health practitioners.  

Course requirements for certification

1. Active participation in  the two-year program (more than 200 hours, not including student teaching/internship)
2. Successfully pass (80%) three exams spread out over the two years
3. Successfully facilitate two workshops with 10 participants, which includes supervision and evaluation by veteran FAF’s.
4. Submit all assignments and projects on time 
5. Demonstrate mastery in teaching, counseling, interpreting charts, and synthesizing reading materials and content areas (including those provided by guest speakers).
6. Present comprehensive case summaries of clients (post-internship- year 2) who learned FAM during the internship. 
7. Design, execute and evaluate a personal project based on defined protocol and criteria (6 months, second year)
8. Submit and receive approval for all materials and handouts to be used for workshops
9. Complete all admin forms, e.g. client data collection, intake forms, workshop evaluations, contracts, information sheets to be shared with clients, etc.

The training course is divided into four primary sections, each approx. 4 months.  The course summary follows below. 

Potential candidates are required to submit a personal vision statement, a written questionnaire, participate in an online interview, and provide a letter of recommendation. Candidates will already have participated in a workshop with a certified facilitator and have at least 1 years’ experience charting their own cycles in order to qualify for acceptance.

COURSE SECTIONS

Note: Content areas are not taught separated in chronological order rather they layered together throughout the two years. 

Section 1: Women’s Health 

Inter-disciplinary approaches to understanding the “experience of menstruation” 

1. Female and male reproductive and sexual anatomy, physiology, endocrinology
2. All methods of contraception + literacy about presenting efficacy and statistics
3. Physiology of breastfeeding (BF); BF and lactational infertility,
4. Conception – male and female infertility, world and country trends, causes, diagnostic tests, and treatment options. Conventional med & CAM. Goal-setting and prioritizing with client/couple. Improving CF, hormonal balance, infertility testing and treatment (also according to Jewish law), egg-freezing, and ART/IVF.
5. Fertility and nutrition, endocrine disruptors, PCO
6. Body-Mind connection in relation to cycles, fertility, sexual health
7. Interpreting blood and hormone tests, sperm analysis, U.S.,
8.  Peri-menopause and menopause 
9. Mini units (some taught by guest lecturers): Healthy sexuality, Managing sexual pain, Contraception, and sexuality; PCO, pelvic floor rehabilitation, candida, sexual problems in men and women; vulvar anomalies/diseases: holistic tools for treating menstrual cycle and hormone imbalances; 
10. Working knowledge about electronic fertility monitors (EFM’s), ovulation predictor kits (OPK’s), and various menstrual/fertility apps
11. Reproductive justice as a human right, the right to personal autonomy over one’s body, the free choice regarding pregnancy, parenting, contraception, and abortion, the role of men. environmental justice and reproduction; 
12. Professional ethics: human dignity, privacy, confidentiality, autonomy and freedom of choice, transparency, ensuring informed consent, referral practice, business practice, intellectual property rights, copyrighted materials and permission to use material of others, plagiarism prevention, cultural and gender competence, managing ethical dilemmas.
13. Navigating the health system, how to talk to your doctor, how to find a good practitioner, Know your rights as a consumer of health services, Preventive Medicine, recommended screening tests (and controversies) for women.

 Section 2: Teaching FAM: Pedagogy and group facilitation skills 

1. How to teach FAM: The workshop model, content areas, integrating cognitive and experiential learning, creative ways to teach anatomy & physiology, the centrality of charts/primary tool. Protocols for client/student follow up and case/chart presentations  
2. Decision-Making about workshop participants; counseling skills, active listening, method fit, values clarification, role play for skill-building, screening to find the best match for woman & method; examining personal biases/prejudice, counseling women through unintended pregnancy and abortion. 
3. A model for learning and teaching about cervical secretion changes; each woman has her unique body language, Short CF videos for teaching & learning 
4. FAM in group settings, teaching vs facilitating, facilitation skills, educational theories about KAPs- (knowledge, attitude and behavior), evidence-based programs which change knowledge, attitudes, practice; models for health empowerment, role modeling, foundations and principles of the FAM workshop in Israel. Cognitive & experiential learning model. Teaching FAM one-on-one. Working with couples. 
5. Supervised internship 

Section 3:  Fertility Awareness as a Method

1. History, development, and ideology of FAM (Sympto-Thermal Method) as one of many variations on the FABM spectrum (Fertility Awareness Based Methods); who were the pioneers and players, organizations leading the profession, research and researchers, effectiveness studies, academic and popular literature, FAM and NFP in the international arena. 
2. Regular and irregular cycles and charts The chart as a diagnostic tool; Interpreting charts, case presentations with charts.
3. FAM Rules- teaching post-ovulation rules first; pre-ovulation rules after experience charting at least 4 cycles.
4. Understanding hormonal transitions: coming off hormones and IUDs; post-partum BF, perimenopause. 
5. The necessity of two methods during fertile days.
6. Differences among FAM teachers in applying FAM rules.

Section 4:  The FAM workshop

1. Workshop design (2-3 sessions, 10+ hours); Teacher goals & learner goals, rationale, content areas, organization, handouts, charts for teaching and charts for charting, audio-visual/graphic tools, books, birth control kit, CF kit, follow-up protocol.
2. Admin: info sheets, intake forms, workshop evaluation forms, informed consent and confidentiality, liability. 
3. Business planning: self-assessment, goal setting, pricing workshop expenses, marketing, advertising, recruitment, professional standards. Providing follow-up. Boundaries regarding the responsibility to clients; networking and collaboration with colleagues and allied health professionals. 

Section 5:  Course requirements (presentations, papers, exams, internship, handouts, etc.)

1. Active participation in the course
2. Mandatory reading of 5-6 books and summaries of others
3. Critique popular and academic articles related to content areas
4. 3 exams.
5. Supervised internship
6. Presenting 5 full case study presentations (Year 2).
7. On-going CF presentations to the group.
8. Personal projects- (6 months): criteria, format, scope, and objectives. Proposal submission, approval, time-lines, execution, evaluation, and presentation. Projects are meant to further personal professional development and overall professional development in our field.
9. Approval admin forms, workshop handouts, client charts

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