Nutrition in Medicine: Nutrition Education for Medical Students and Residents

Proper nutrition plays a key role in disease prevention and treatment. Many patients understand this link and look to physicians for guidance diet and physical activity. Actual physician practice, however, is often inadequate in addressing the nutrition aspects of diseases such as cancer, obesity, and diabetes. Physicians do not feel comfortable, confident, or adequately prepared to provide nutrition counseling, which may be related to suboptimal knowledge of basic nutrition science facts and understanding of potential nutrition interventions. Historically, nutrition education has been underrepresented at many medical schools and residency programs. Our surveys over a decade show that most medical schools in the United States are still not ensuring adequate nutrition education, and they are not producing graduates with the nutrition competencies required in medical practice. Physicians, residents, and medical students clearly need more training in nutrition assessment and intervention