- The Short Answer: What EIM Actually Is
- Which EIM? Clearing Up the Acronym
- From 2012 Certification to Specialty Credential
- Inside the Five Curriculum Areas
- How the Course and Quizzes Work
- Course Enrollment vs. Credential Eligibility
- Fees, Credits, and Access Window
- Who Benefits From the EIM Pathway
- Sequencing Your Study Around the Five Areas
- What Is Not Publicly Confirmed
- Frequently Asked Questions
- EIM here means the ACSM Exercise is Medicine Credential, an educational specialty program administered by the American College of Sports Medicine.
- The online course costs USD195 for ACSM members and USD379 for nonmembers, and awards 15 CECs.
- Credential eligibility requires a bachelor's degree, an approved fitness certification, finishing all modules, and at least 80% on every online exam.
- Course access runs 365 days from purchase; that window is not an exam timer or credential validity period.
The Short Answer: What EIM Actually Is
EIM stands for Exercise is Medicine, and in the context of this site it refers to the ACSM Exercise is Medicine Credential. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) both issues and administers it. It is built for exercise professionals who want to work effectively with patients and clients who have chronic medical conditions, and who need to communicate with health care teams about those clients.
The central idea is a bridge. Physical activity is treated as a vital sign and a form of preventive and therapeutic care, and the credential trains fitness professionals to connect clinical settings with community-based exercise programming. That means understanding how health care is organized, what referrals look like, how documentation and privacy rules shape your work, and where your professional scope ends.
If you want a plain-language companion to this overview, our pages on what EIM certification is and what EIM stands for cover the naming side in more detail.
Which EIM? Clearing Up the Acronym
The letters "EIM" are used by several unrelated credentials and programs in different industries. This article is about exactly one: the ACSM Exercise is Medicine pathway. It is also worth separating it from several nearby ACSM products that people confuse with it:
- ACSM-CPT, ACSM-EP, and ACSM-CEP are separate base certifications with their own handbook, testing rules, and maintenance policies. They are not the EIM credential.
- Exercise is Medicine for Practitioners is a different, one-CEC product, not the 15-CEC credential course.
- Canada's recognition program and EIM On Campus are other Exercise is Medicine initiatives and should not be assumed to share this pathway's requirements.
From 2012 Certification to Specialty Credential
ACSM's own history of the program explains why older web pages describe it so differently. The original certification dates to 2012. In 2021 it was redesigned as a specialty credential built on an educational certificate, and a refreshed asynchronous online course launched in June 2022. ACSM describes that course as 17 sections organized into five modules, using a "Common Chronic Medical Conditions" structure and placing behavior change ahead of special settings.
This matters when you read third-party material. Older sites still talk about "Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3" and about legacy exam codes. Those are historical search terms. The current pathway is course-based, and the older level-based criteria are not part of the 15-CEC course structure. A dated course launch also does not prove that every current item is unchanged since 2022, so treat ACSM's live pages as the final word. For deeper context on how the credential is described across the web, see EIM meaning and EIM certification.
Inside the Five Curriculum Areas
ACSM's public catalog lists five top-level areas, in this order. They are unweighted preparation topics rather than a formal exam blueprint, and no official percentage weights have been verified. For a fuller walk-through, see our guide to all five EIM content areas.
Domain 1: Health Care Basics
This is the foundation for working alongside clinicians rather than around them.
- Models of care and the Exercise is Medicine framework
- Terminology, documentation, and communication with health care providers
- Privacy and HIPAA, and what falls inside or outside your scope of practice
- Health systems, clinical-to-community collaboration, and referrals
Domain 2: Exercise Prescription for Common Medical Conditions
The largest block of condition-specific content in the published topic list.
- Hypertension and dyslipidemia
- Obesity, metabolic syndrome, and NAFLD
- Pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes
- Osteoarthritis and low back pain
- An introduction to cancer
- Medication effects and referral decisions
Domain 3: Exercise Prescription for Older Adults
A dedicated area for programming with older clients. The published catalog does not list nested subheadings here, so rely on the issuer's course materials for specifics rather than assuming topics.
Domain 4: Exercise Prescription in Special Settings
Where programming leaves the one-on-one session.
- Facilitating small group medical fitness programs
- Virtual training and technology
Domain 5: Facilitating Behavior Change - The Coach Approach
The communication and adherence layer. Public learning objectives point to motivational interviewing, exercise adherence, and the use of technology to support change. As with older adults, no unpublished subheadings should be assumed.
How the Course and Quizzes Work
The EIM course is delivered by ACSM Online Learning through the Path LMS platform. It is asynchronous, so you move through lessons on your own schedule rather than sitting a single scheduled test session. Assessment is built around module-level online quizzes.
Public course-item metadata lists 14 assessment quizzes, with these question counts:
| Quiz | Listed Questions |
|---|---|
| Health Care Basics | 25 |
| Hypertension | 6 |
| Dyslipidemia | 10 |
| Obesity | 18 |
| Metabolic Syndrome | 9 |
| NAFLD | 7 |
| Prediabetes/Type 2 Diabetes | 26 |
| Osteoarthritis | 16 |
| Low-back Pain | 11 |
| Cancer | 9 |
| Older Adults | 15 |
| Behavior Change | 25 |
| Small Group Programs | 13 |
| Technology/Virtual Training | 13 |
Those figures add up to 203 questions, but that is a calculated total across separate quizzes, not a single 203-question final exam. A separate six-question course evaluation is excluded from the count. The indexed list should also not be read as an exhaustive inventory of every instructional or assessment item in the course.
Details that candidates often ask about, such as per-quiz timers, calculator or open-book rules, proctoring, and Pearson VUE involvement, have not been verified for this course, so do not assume them from other ACSM exams. To gauge how demanding the quizzes are, see how hard the EIM exam is.
Course Enrollment vs. Credential Eligibility
One of the most common misunderstandings is treating "taking the course" and "earning the credential" as the same thing. They are separate steps with separate requirements.
- The course itself has no prerequisites. Anyone can enroll and learn the material.
- The credential has requirements. You need at least a B.S. or B.A. in exercise science, exercise physiology, or kinesiology; an ACSM certification or another NCCA-accredited or ISO/IEC 17024 fitness certification; completion of every EIM course module; and a score of at least 80% on every online examination.
Key Takeaway
The 80% threshold applies to each online exam individually, not to an overall average. A strong score on Behavior Change cannot offset a sub-80% result on Hypertension. Plan to clear every quiz on its own merits.
Participants who pass receive an email invitation to complete the credential application. A separate credential-application fee, additional work-experience hours, and reference letters were not verified, so confirm them with ACSM before you pay. Our EIM requirements guide and passing score breakdown go further into these mechanics.
Fees, Credits, and Access Window
| Item | What the Published Information Says |
|---|---|
| Course fee, ACSM member | USD195 |
| Course fee, nonmember | USD379 |
| Continuing education credit | 15 CECs |
| Access and completion window | 365 days from purchase |
| Separate credential-application or exam fee | Not verified |
| Renewal period, fee, and CEC total | Not verified for EIM specifically |
Three of these figures are easy to misread. The 15 CECs are educational credit, not an exam duration and not an EIM renewal requirement. The 365-day window is how long you have to get through the course, not how long a credential stays valid. And the member price difference is substantial enough that checking ACSM membership status first is worth the effort. For the full financial picture, see the EIM certification cost breakdown.
On renewal, be cautious. The O*NET directory record for this credential mentions three-year renewal through CEUs but also contains an education response that conflicts with ACSM's current bachelor's-degree requirement, so treat it as potentially legacy information. ACSM's recertification pages list its base certifications and do not give an EIM entry. Confirm renewal terms directly with the issuer.
Who Benefits From the EIM Pathway
The credential is aimed at exercise professionals who already hold a fitness certification and a relevant degree and who want to operate comfortably in clinical-adjacent settings. Typical fits include:
- Exercise physiologists and trainers who receive referrals from physicians or other clinicians
- Professionals running or planning small-group medical fitness programs
- Practitioners who coach clients with hypertension, diabetes, obesity, osteoarthritis, low back pain, or a cancer history
- Trainers expanding into virtual programming for clients with medical conditions
It is not a medical treatment license, and nothing in the curriculum gives you authority to diagnose or treat. A large part of Domain 1 is about the opposite: knowing your scope and handing off appropriately.
On career economics, be skeptical of anyone promising an earnings bump. No exact salary series for EIM credential holders, and no demonstrated credential-caused premium, has been verified. Our salary analysis, EIM jobs overview, and ROI discussion treat the value question without making unsupported claims.
It is also reasonable to compare it with ACSM-EP, but only as a comparison of distinct pathways. ACSM-EP is a base certification for exercise physiologists; the EIM credential is a specialty credential layered on top of an existing fitness certification. They are not equivalent and do not substitute for one another.
Sequencing Your Study Around the Five Areas
Because the course is asynchronous and the pass condition is 80% on every quiz, an order that builds vocabulary first and condition detail second tends to work well. This is one possible sequence across five weeks; adjust it to your 365-day window and background.
Health Care Basics
- Learn the terminology and documentation conventions, since later quizzes assume them
- Work through privacy and HIPAA scenarios and decide where scope of practice ends
- Take the 25-question Health Care Basics quiz while the material is fresh
Common Medical Conditions
- Pair related topics: hypertension with dyslipidemia, obesity with metabolic syndrome and NAFLD
- Give extra time to Prediabetes/Type 2 Diabetes, the longest quiz at 26 questions
- Review medication effects and when a referral decision is appropriate
Older Adults and Special Settings
- Cover the Older Adults module on its own terms
- Study small group program facilitation and virtual training technology
Behavior Change and Review
- Practice motivational interviewing language and adherence strategies
- Revisit any quiz where you fell short of 80%
For reference reading, note that the course description cites the 11th edition of ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription and the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, while a later notice recommends the 12th edition, published in 2024. That mix does not establish a new EIM exam version, so keep both in mind and follow whichever edition the course materials point you to. When you want extra drilling beyond the course quizzes, our practice test platform and the EIM study guide are good places to build recall, and the one-page cheat sheet works for last-minute review.
What Is Not Publicly Confirmed
A trustworthy overview should say what the public record does not establish. For this credential, the following were not verified:
- An official pass rate (see our discussion of what data exists on pass rates)
- Official percentage weights for any of the five areas
- A single final-exam question count or a timed exam duration
- Proctoring, calculator, open-book, or adaptive-testing policies
- A complete policy for retaking after a failed attempt; the catalog's retake wording concerns retakes after passing
- Scheduling windows in the way a proctored exam would have them (see exam dates and access timing)
Third-party sites advertising large question banks, legacy exam codes, or specific timing claims are describing their own products, not issuer facts. Treat their numbers as vendor marketing, and treat ACSM's pages as the source of record. If you want a structured way to practice the kinds of clinical-communication and condition-based questions the course covers, you can start on the main practice test site and then verify any administrative details with ACSM directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
It stands for Exercise is Medicine, specifically the ACSM Exercise is Medicine Credential. It is an educational specialty program issued and administered by the American College of Sports Medicine, not a general medical qualification.
No. The course has no prerequisites. However, earning the credential itself requires at least a bachelor's degree in exercise science, exercise physiology, or kinesiology, plus an ACSM or other NCCA-accredited or ISO/IEC 17024 fitness certification.
You need at least 80% on every online examination. It is a per-exam requirement, not an overall average, so each quiz must clear the threshold individually.
The course is USD195 for ACSM members and USD379 for nonmembers, and it awards 15 CECs. A separate credential-application fee was not verified, so confirm any additional charges with ACSM before enrolling.
No. The 365 days from purchase is the window to access and complete the course. It is neither an exam timer nor a credential validity period. EIM-specific renewal terms were not verified, so check with ACSM.