Persistent gaps in nutrition education in UK medical schools: a triangulated review of curricula, student perception and the evidence base.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Triangulated study combining a rapid review, descriptive curriculum mapping, and an uncontrolled cross-sectional survey.
PubMed 42540135 · doi:10.1136/bmjnph-2025-001479
What was done
The authors triangulated findings from three data sources: a curriculum review and mapping exercise of UK medical schools; a curriculum survey (n=31) of final-year medical students and newly qualified doctors evaluating General Medical Council and Association for Nutrition competencies; and a rapid review of literature from 2010 to 2025 regarding nutrition education in UK medical programmes.
What was found
Nutrition education was inconsistently delivered, theoretical, and rarely assessed across data sources. Among surveyed trainees (n=31), 71% reported receiving 10 or fewer total hours of teaching. While 84% rated nutrition as important, only 61% felt prepared to address nutrition issues, with the lowest confidence reported in practical skills such as nutrition assessment, referral pathways, and brief interventions. The rapid review identified barriers including low curricular priority, limited assessment, lack of faculty expertise, and poor clinical integration.
Why it matters
This paper documents persistent shortfalls in practical nutrition education across UK medical training despite formal professional guidance, highlighting a major gap in preparing doctors for chronic disease prevention.
Limits
The survey cohort is very small (n=31) and limited to self-reported perceptions. The abstract does not report the number of medical school curricula mapped or the number of papers included in the rapid review.