Nutrition education in U.S. medical schools: latest update of a national survey.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional institutional survey comparing repeated survey cohorts
PubMed 20736683 · doi:10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181eab71b
What was done
Authors distributed a two-page online survey to all 127 accredited U.S. medical schools between August 2008 and July 2009. Institutional contacts (primarily nutrition educators) reported total required nutrition contact hours and whether instruction took place in dedicated nutrition courses, integrated within other courses, or during clinical clerkships. Results were compared with a previous 2004 survey.
What was found
Responses were obtained from 109 of 127 schools (86% response rate), with 103 of 109 requiring some nutrition instruction. Among 105 schools reporting contact hours, only 26 (25%) required a dedicated nutrition course, down from 32 of 106 (30%) in 2004. Students received an average of 19.6 contact hours of nutrition education across their medical school training (range: 0–70 hours), compared to 22.3 hours in 2004. Only 28 of 105 schools (27%) met the National Academy of Sciences minimum recommendation of 25 required hours, a decrease from 40 of 104 schools (38%) in 2004.
Why it matters
Despite increasing chronic disease burdens tied to diet, required nutrition instruction in U.S. medical schools decreased between 2004 and 2008–2009, with under a third of schools meeting national minimum guidelines.
Limits
The findings rely on self-reported curriculum hours from single institutional contacts, which may introduce reporting error. The abstract does not assess curriculum quality, retention of knowledge, student competency, or the clinical efficacy of the instruction provided.
Cited by
- context The average medical school curriculum provides only around 12 hours of total nutrition education.