An Analysis of Medical School Curriculum with Respect to Physician Education on Nutrition for Diabetes Prevention and Management

The public health impact of diabetes is formidable, and in 2015, diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death. Both T1DM and T2DM can be managed through nutrition, and T2DM can be prevented through nutrition lifestyle changes. While there are nearly 90,000 registered dietitians (RDs) in the U.S., considering the size of the population with diabetes, most individuals with diabetes will consult their primary care or family medicine physician to help manage nutrition for their condition. In fact, a majority of patients report that they expect primary care and family medicine physicians to provide nutrition counseling. However, physicians report inadequate nutrition knowledge as well as low confidence in their skills counseling patients on nutrition. This lack of nutrition confidence reported by physicians can be directly related to a lack of training during medical school. This paper will examine the current state of nutrition education for physicians as it pertains to diabetes prevention and management. Medical school curriculum, material tested on the United States Medical Licensing Examinations (USMLE), and opportunities for continuing education on the nutrition for diabetes prevention and management were reviewed in order to determine what opportunities future physicians and current physicians are offered to gain proficiency on this subject. The implications of these findings are then discussed, along with future directions for improving physician confidence with nutrition for diabetes prevention and management.Master of Public Healt