The need to advance nutrition education in the training of health care professionals and recommended research to evaluate implementation and effectiveness.

Nutrition is a recognized determinant in 3 (ie, diseases of the heart, malignant neoplasms, cerebrovascular diseases) of the top 4 leading causes of death in the United States. However, many health care providers are not adequately trained to address lifestyle recommendations that include nutrition and physical activity behaviors in a manner that could mitigate disease development or progression. This contributes to a compelling need to markedly improve nutrition education for health care professionals and to establish curricular standards and requisite nutrition and physical activity competencies in the education, training, and continuing education for health care professionals. This article reports the present status of nutrition and physical activity education for health care professionals, evaluates the current pedagogic models, and underscores the urgent need to realign and synergize these models to reflect evidence-based and outcomes-focused education.

Residency and specialties training in nutrition: a call for action.

Despite evidence that nutrition interventions reduce morbidity and mortality, malnutrition, including obesity, remains highly prevalent in hospitals and plays a major role in nearly every major chronic disease that afflicts patients. Physicians recognize that they lack the education and training in medical nutrition needed to counsel their patients and to ensure continuity of nutrition care in collaboration with other health care professionals. Nutrition education and training in specialty and subspecialty areas are inadequate, physician nutrition specialists are not recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties, and nutrition care coverage by third payers remains woefully limited. This article focuses on residency and fellowship education and training in the United States and provides recommendations for improving medical nutrition education and practice.

Nutrition education in medical school: a time of opportunity.

Undergraduate medical education has undergone significant changes in development of new curricula, new pedagogies, and new forms of assessment since the Nutrition Academic Award was launched more than a decade ago. With an emphasis on a competency-based curriculum, integrated learning, longitudinal clinical experiences, and implementation of new technology, nutrition educators have an opportunity to introduce nutrition and diet behavior-related learning experiences across the continuum of medical education. Innovative learning opportunities include bridging personal health and nutrition to community, public, and global health concerns; integrating nutrition into lifestyle medicine training; and using nutrition as a model for teaching the continuum of care and promoting interprofessional team-based care. Faculty development and identification of leaders to serve as champions for nutrition education continue to be a challenge.

A Problem-Based Learning Approach to Incorporating Nutrition into the Medical Curriculum.

Problem Based Learning (PBL) provides a unique opportunity for medical students to learn nutrition principles in the context of evidence-based clinical cases. At the University of Texas Medical School at Houston (UTMSH), PBL is a major component during the second year of the four year undergraduate medical curriculum. A recent review of forty-two clinical cases has shown that over half of the cases include nutrition-specific objectives related to diagnosis, therapy, prognosis, or disease prevention. Thus, these PBL cases provide students the opportunity to study a broad range of nutrition topics in a clinically relevant context. The students' nutrition knowledge is evaluated using clinically-oriented, multiple-choice questions. In order for students to develop fully their competency in clinical nutrition topics, they are also provided a foundation in basic nutrition principles. This report describes a comprehensive approach through a case-based curriculum to help prepare students in their pre-clinical years for the nutritional care of patients in their clerkships, residency, and as practicing physicians.