Priorities for nutrition content in a medical school curriculum: a national consensus of medical educators

Weinsier, Roland L.; Boker, John R.; Brooks, C. Michael; Kushner, Robert F.; Visek, Willard J.; Mark, David A.; Lopez-S, Alfredo; Anderson, Margene; Block, Keith I.

doi:10.1093/ajcn/50.4.707

Cited by 76 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…One is the 1985 National Academy of Sciences report that suggests 25 hours of nutrition instruction as a minimum, 3 and the other is the 1989 American Society of Clinical Nutrition recommendation that 37 to 44 hours be dedicated to nutrition instruction during medical school. 20 By either standard, medical schools are falling far short of providing adequate training.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrition Education in U.S. Medical Schools: Latest Update of a National Survey

Adams¹,

Kohlmeier²,

Zeisel³

2010

Academic Medicine

271

233

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose To quantify the number of required hours of nutrition education at U.S. medical schools and the types of courses in which the instruction was offered, and to compare these results with results from previous surveys. Method The authors distributed to all 127 accredited U.S. medical schools (that were matriculating students at the time of this study) a two-page online survey devised by the Nutrition in Medicine Project at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. From August 2008 through July 2009, the authors asked their contacts, most of whom were nutrition educators, to report the nutrition contact hours that were required for their medical students and whether those actual hours of nutrition education occurred in a designated nutrition course, within another course, or during clinical rotations. Results Respondents from 109 (86%) of the targeted medical schools completed some part of the survey. Most schools (103/109) required some form of nutrition education. Of the 105 schools answering questions about courses and contact hours, only 26 (25%) required a dedicated nutrition course; in 2004, 32 (30%) of 106 schools did. Overall, medical students received 19.6 contact hours of nutrition instruction during their medical school careers (range: 0–70 hours); the average in 2004 was 22.3 hours. Only 28 (27%) of the 105 schools met the minimum 25 required hours set by the National Academy of Sciences; in 2004, 40 (38%) of 104 schools did so. Conclusions The amount of nutrition education that medical students receive continues to be inadequate.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrition Education in U.S. Medical Schools: Latest Update of a National Survey

Adams¹,

Kohlmeier²,

Zeisel³

2010

Academic Medicine

271

233

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Possible responses spanned from strongly disagree to strongly agree on a 5-point Likert Scale. Items for the self-efficacy measure were also adapted from previously published surveys [35,42,43]. This scale had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.84.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Future Doctors’ Nutrition-Related Knowledge, Attitudes and Self-Efficacy Regarding Nutrition Care in the General Practice Setting: A Cross-Sectional Survey

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Doctors are in a good position to provide nutrition advice to patients. However, doctors and medical students find their nutrition education to be inadequate. We evaluated nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy in a sample of future doctors. Furthermore, we investigated the association between nutrition-related knowledge, attitude and self-efficacy. We also compared nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy with level of clinical training. Methods Following a cross-sectional design, the nutritionrelated knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy of 207 undergraduate clinical-level medical students (referred to as future doctors) was measured using a questionnaire. Items of the questionnaire were derived from previously validated survey instruments. Descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation was used to describe the data. Results Future doctors had a mean knowledge score of 64%. Their mean knowledge scores in the nutrition topics assessed were 41% for 'malnutrition in children', 59% for 'diabetes and obesity' and 73% for 'nutrients, energy and their deficiencies'. Future doctors' attitudes towards nutrition care were generally positive but were uncertain in the effectiveness of health education in changing the lifestyle of patients. They felt inadequate in their self-efficacy to provide nutrition care. Attitudes towards nutrition care correlated (r = 0.371, p < 0.001) positively with self-efficacy to provide nutrition care. Level of clinical training was associated to nutrition-related knowledge of the students. Conclusion Future doctors had positive attitudes towards nutrition care but showed important knowledge gaps and also felt inadequate in their confidence to provide nutrition care. Attitudes may be important in nutrition care self-efficacy.

show abstract

“…The American Society for Clinical Nutrition consensus guidelines and other published recommendations guided the content development for the NIM medical student curriculum, 34–36 which includes 29 units, with instruction spanning the preclinical and clinical years of medical school (Table 2). The scope of the curriculum is very broad and meets all of the expected competencies in nutrition for medical students (Table 1).…”

Section: The Nim Medical Student Curriculummentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrition in Medicine

et al. 2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Proper nutrition plays a key role in disease prevention and treatment. Many patients understand this link and look to physicians for guidance diet and physical activity. Actual physician practice, however, is often inadequate in addressing the nutrition aspects of diseases such as cancer, obesity, and diabetes. Physicians do not feel comfortable, confident, or adequately prepared to provide nutrition counseling, which may be related to suboptimal knowledge of basic nutrition science facts and understanding of potential nutrition interventions. Historically, nutrition education has been underrepresented at many medical schools and residency programs. Our surveys over a decade show that most medical schools in the United States are still not ensuring adequate nutrition education, and they are not producing graduates with the nutrition competencies required in medical practice. Physicians, residents, and medical students clearly need more training in nutrition assessment and intervention. The Nutrition in Medicine (NIM) project, established to develop and distribute a core nutrition curriculum for medical students, offers a comprehensive online set of courses free of charge to medical schools. The NIM medical school curriculum is widely used in the United States and abroad. A new initiative, Nutrition Education for Practicing Physicians, offers an innovative online medical nutrition education program for residents and other physicians-in-training, but with targeted, practice-based educational units designed to be completed in 15 minutes or less. The NIM project is strengthening medical nutrition practice by providing a free, comprehensive, online nutrition curriculum with clinically relevant, evidence-based medical education for undergraduate and postgraduate learners.

show abstract

Priorities for nutrition content in a medical school curriculum: a national consensus of medical educators

Cited by 76 publications

References 6 publications

Nutrition Education in U.S. Medical Schools: Latest Update of a National Survey

Nutrition Education in U.S. Medical Schools: Latest Update of a National Survey

Future Doctors’ Nutrition-Related Knowledge, Attitudes and Self-Efficacy Regarding Nutrition Care in the General Practice Setting: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Nutrition in Medicine

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About