Educating Doctors about Nutrition

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Schaeffer, J. (2016). Educating doctors about nutrition. Today’s Dietitian, 18(1), 40.
            The Institute of Medicine and the Association of American Medical Colleges recommend that medical students receive 25 hours of nutrition education over a four-year time-frame.  However, an average of 71% of medical schools do not meet the full 25 hours of education.  As a result, physicians are not learning enough about nutrition and its impact on the prevention and management of chronic diseases.
            The Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine, owned and operated by Tulane Medical School is a teaching kitchen that aims to sufficiently educate medical students about nutrition.  It offers various programs, ranging from beginner to CME modules for practicing physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, RDs, and pharmacists.  In addition, 17 other medical schools have integrated Goldring’s programming into their own curriculum.  One of the program’s main goal is to show physicians the value of RDs and highlight its effect on disease prevention and management.  Classes are composed of 15 to 20 students and are three hours long. which include case-study scenarios, hands-on cooking, and group discussions.
            Overall, the program is aimed to teach doctors how to appropriately talk to patients about food and nutrition.  It also encourages doctors to see the value in dietitians and therefore strengthen the relationship between the two disciplines. 

 -AC



Comments

  1. ksu internsDecember 3, 2016 at 2:57 PM

    Thank you for posting this article, I found it very interesting. It has always floored me how little physicians have to learn about nutrition. The need for more nutritional education is becoming more obvious and important with the rise of diabetes and other obesity related diseases. I also like that one of the main goals of the program is to promote RDs as the nutrition experts and a great resource to physicians.

    -SG

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