Salon CMAJ

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Can adian Medical Association. 1676 CMAJ, October 4, 2011, 183(14) © 2011 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors Irecall precisely two lectures on nutri-tion in medical school. True, weheard physiology lectures on short-chain fatty acids, and our biochemistry professors encouraged us to remember the structures of the amino acids, but just how these things related to what a person should eat remained largely indecipher-able. One was left with the impression nutrition didn’t matter all that much. Or if it did, it was common sense stuff we knew already: Eat your vegetables; lay off the red meat, fat and salt. It seems my medical education was not unusual. As early as 1966, Robert Shank complained in the pages of the American Journal of Public Health1 that “there is inadequate recognition, support, and attention given ” to nutrition in med-ical schools. Fast-forward nearly 50 years, and it seems little has been done to fill the hole. A recent survey of Canadian medical students2 revealed that, while they felt comfortable advising patients about basic nutrition and disease preven-tion, they were uncomfortable discussing the role of nutrition in disease treatment and with finding credible sources of nutrition information. Nearly 90 per cent felt they needed more nutrition education during medical school. So why has noth-ing changed