Catalysts for Change: Accelerating the Lifestyle Medicine Movement Through Professionals in Training.

While the Western diet has evolved to become increasingly high in saturated fat, cholesterol, protein, sugar, and salt intake, nutrition education and training of health care professionals to counsel their patients on the hazards of such a diet has trailed behind. Primary care physicians have an opportunity to bridge the gap by providing nutrition and dietary counseling as key components in the delivery of preventive services. Increasing research points to the value of a whole-foods plant-based diet in combating chronic disease, yet the knowledge of health professionals about the topic is comparable to that of the general public. This education crisis is apparent in medical training with restricted time for dedicated lectures on nutrition, physical activity, restorative sleep, emotional well-being, and avoidance of risky substance use. Together, educators and learners are valuable catalysts for culture change in medical education, training, and clinical practice. Barriers to physician ability to counsel about lifestyle are many, but one that stands out is lack of training and comfort with counseling. This has implications for the training of health care professionals. American College of Lifestyle Medicine has a committee, Professionals in Training, composed of interprofessional and multidisciplinary students, residents, and fellows nationally and worldwide who are committed to expanding exposure to lifestyle medicine and implementation of lifestyle medicine in parallel curriculum and personal care.

Development and validation of the Physician-Patient Humor Rating Scale.

The purpose of this study was the development of a rating instrument to assess the use of humor in physician- patient interactions, and to compare humor use as a function of patients' socioeconomic status. The 46-item Physician-Patient Humor Rating Scale (PPHRS) was used to rate 246 audiotaped primary care interactions. Four subscales were reliable and valid, demonstrating correlations with patient satisfaction and reports of physician humor, with physician satisfaction and with separate affective communication ratings. There was a significant difference in use of humor as a function of patient socioeconomic status, such that there was greater mutual trust between physicians and high versus low income patients.