Specific prices for the below-mentioned items are found on the Sponsor an ALSO Course webpage.
Note: The Online Course includes a downloadable ALSO Course Manual.
Visit the AAFP’s Sponsor an ALSO Course webpage each time you are applying for a course. The page offers a simple, three-step application process, along with other helpful information. After you apply for CME credit, within one hour, you will receive an ALSO Course Approval email and a CME Approval email.
The Course Approval email will include an Online Course URL unique to your course date, to be shared with your course registrants. In addition there is a link to the Course Materials webpage with administrative and teaching documents/instructions only accessible by the course director and coordinator.
Approximately 10 days after the Live course date, the AAFP will email an invoice to the course director and coordinator that includes the following:
The course sponsor is financially responsible for making sure the AAFP invoice is paid within 30 days of receipt. The preferred payment method is for the sponsor to collect fees from all participating organizations and either write one check to the AAFP or pay with a credit card. The invoice number MUST be indicated on checks or mentioned when paying with credit card.
The course sponsor is financially responsible for making sure the AAFP invoice is paid within 30 days of the live course. The preferred payment method is for the sponsor to collect fees from all participating organizations and either write one check to the AAFP or pay with a credit card. The invoice number MUST be indicated on all checks or mentioned when paying with credit card.
If it is against the course sponsor’s policy to handle funds from other organizations, the sponsor should send a copy of the invoice and the course roster (marking the names of each organization’s learners) to each participating organization and ask them to submit payment for their learner(s) directly to the AAFP.
Payment for instructors is not always required, but it is recommended. The budget and arrangements for an ALSO course are up to the individual course director. If you will be using instructors from outside of your institution, appropriate compensation for time and travel is common. However, compensation can be negotiated on a case-by-case basis. For example, when there are multiple ALSO courses in the same area, some course sponsors have formed a consortium of local ALSO Approved Instructors who donate their time and trade off teaching at one another’s courses. Another option to increase the number of available instructors in your organization is to send individuals to an ALSO Instructor Course. If there is a shortage of instructors in your area, you may also consider holding a local ALSO Instructor Course to increase your pool of ALSO Approved Instructors.
Yes. An AAFP CME application must be submitted by the sponsor for every ALSO Provider Course, regardless of whether or not your learners need CME. This process generates the unique course URL, course dashboard, and ALSO Provider status for learners. It also ensures CME credit is added to each learner’s and instructor’s AAFP account/transcript.
You should estimate and request credits only for the live component of your course. One CME credit equals one hour of learning. Do not include the welcome/overview and breaks/lunch in your time estimate.
The online component of the ALSO Provider Course has already been approved separately by the AAFP for a set number of CME credits. The approved credit amount will be indicated in your CME approval email and on the letter of participation that will be available to all learners in their AAFP account.
The required workstations and group testing take a full day. The addition of one or multiple optional chapters extend the time needed, to two days.
The ALSO Course is an excellent educational tool at any stage of pregnancy care training. Many hospitals utilize it as a standardized, evidence-based method to orient new staff in addressing obstetrical emergencies. Some residency programs use the ALSO course at the beginning of new residents’ first year to help prepare them to care for their first pregnancy patients. Other residency programs teach the course after the first year, allowing residents to learn the basics of childbirth before focusing on urgencies and emergencies.
Yes. Learners who successfully complete the ALSO Online Course will come to the live course prepared, confident, and ready to demonstrate what they’ve learned at the hands-on workstations.
ALSO staff is available to assist you with course preparation by providing reports of approved instructors and advisory faculty in your state, if needed. In addition, ALSO staff will work with you to resolve unexpected issues with the course and answer any questions you may have. For assistance, email also@aafp.org or call (800)274-2237, x7506.
It is a requirment for Sponsors to work directly with faculty to provide their AAFP ID numbers so they may enter them on the Instructor section of the Course Dashboard. It is best to do this when planning the course, to ensure the status that shows next to each name is the expected status, prior to the course date.
A current advisory faculty member must be present at the ALSO Provider Course to observe both instructor candidates and advisory faculty candidates. The observing advisory faculty member must complete the appropriate evaluation form (found on the Course Materials webpage). The course sponsor will keep these evaluations on file for two years; they should not be submitted to the AAFP.
Based on the evaluation of the candidate, the sponsor will check the box for ‘Recommend Approved Instructor’ or ‘Recommend Advisory Faculty” on the course dashboard before submitting it to the AAFP. For the approval to be processed appropriately, the current status indicated next to the candidate’s name (‘instructor candidate’ for approved instructor and ‘approved instructor’ for advisory faculty) must be correct before the dashboard is submitted. If it is not, please contact ALSO staff at also@aafp.org to resolve the problem before you submit your dashboard.
When a Learner accesses the Online course, their name and AAFP ID number automatically appears on the Course Dashboard. The status next to their name will show as ‘Incomplete’. As soon as they complete and claim credit, the status will change to ‘Complete’.
It is the sponsor’s responsibility to follow up with Learners leading up to the day before the live course to make sure they have accessed and completed the online course. If a Learner’s Online course status does not show as ‘Complete’, they cannot attend the Live course. If they show up the morning of the Live course with an ‘Incomplete’ status, but claiming they did complete it, allow them to access the Online course and ensure they claimed credit (marked as a required step) – this is what changes the ‘Incomplete’ to ‘Complete’ on the dashboard. If they do this, they may attend the Live course.
After the sponsor submits the course dashboard to the AAFP, it is marked as complete by ALSO staff within 24 hours. At that point, the learners get an automated email stating that their letter of participation and wallet card are available in their AAFP account. This email includes a link to the AAFP website. If course sponsors need copies of these items, they should ask learners to download their letter and/or wallet card and email them to the sponsor.
Anyone providing obstetrical care may attend an ALSO Course, earn ALSO Status (3-yr status), then continue on to either renew the ALSO Status, or attend an Instructor Course to become an approved instructor, then they may apply for advisory faculty status. Review the ALSO Status Life Cycle document for more details. Review the Status Life Cycle document for more details.
Please refer to the ALSO Instructor manual for more guidance on course logistics.
Plan for at least one instructor for every six learners. ALSO staff can provide Sponsor’s a list of ALSO Approved Instructors in your state, by emailing also@aafp.org with the state(s) you wish included in the report.
As with any other professional online course, the sponsor is responsible for clearly communicating the deadline when all online course pre-work should be completed. If learners do not successfully complete the required online elements prior to the start of the live course, they will not be allowed to attend.
On their course dashboard, sponsors can track who has accessed the online course and who has completed it. It is the sponsor’s responsibility to contact learners whose Online course shows as ‘Incomplete’ on the dashboard as many times as necessary until all registrants have completed their Online course.
It is best to collect the Learner fees from them prior to sharing the Online course link. This offers them an incentive to complete this requirment.
If a learner accesses your online course URL and then does not attend (regardless of circumstance) they will remain on your dashboard and your 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, which connects them to that new Live course/dashboard.
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.
We strongly suggest that in the case where Learners are being charged a registration fee, that the sponsor does not send the Online course URL to the Learner until they have paid their registration fee, to avoid unpaid online course access issues for the sponsor.
Yes. The ALSO Online Course has its own evaluation. The ALSO Live Course has one evaluation for all learners; it is available to sponsors on their Course Materials webpage. Completing the evaluations is optional for most learners, but completion is required by the Kansas State Board of Nursing (KSBN) for all registered nurses (RNs), advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and others seeking continuing nursing education (CNE). Evaluations are kept on file by the sponsor for two years. Please do not mail evaluations to the AAFP.
No. Sponsors are not required to advertise their ALSO courses to the public. However, we do encourage all efforts to offer multidisciplinary, team-based learning. Inviting learners from a variety of disciplines and professions (e.g., family physicians, OB-GYNs, midwives, pregnancy care nurses) to your course is an excellent way to build relationships and incorporate ALSO into your culture.
Additionally, practicing physicians, midwives, and nurses often bring their own rich history and experiences to the course, making the learning environment more robust and creating a more realistic team experience. Many course directors have reported that by opening course registration to the public, they have supplemented their educational budgets with the additional income from outside learners.
When we have important updates or release new ALSO content editions, we notify ALSO Approved Instructors and ALSO coordinators in the following ways:
ALSO Department (dashboard and status inquiries)
Email also@aafp.org
(800) 274-2237, ext. 7506
(For efficiency, please do not contact individual staff.)
Member Resource Center (orders, invoice, AAFP ID assistance)
(800) 274-2237
Email aafp@aafp.org