Evaluating Physician Assistant Students’ Knowledge and Competence in Lifestyle Medicine: Assessing the Need for Implementing Lifestyle Medicine Curriculum in Physician Assistant Programs

This research study evaluated PA students’ knowledge and competence in educating patients on topics in lifestyle medicine to assess the need for implementation of lifestyle medicine curriculum in physician assistant programs. An anonymous survey was conducted to obtain subjective data on first- and second-year PA students’ knowledge and competence in topics surrounding lifestyle medicine, as well as input on whether additional education on lifestyle medicine would benefit students in practice. A comprehensive literature review was conducted using the American Academy of Physician Assistants, American College of Preventative Medicine, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and PubMed. Search terms included topics regarding the overview of preventative medicine and lifestyle medicine, barriers of patient education in lifestyle medicine, and the implementation of lifestyle medicine curriculum in physician assistant education. Inclusion criteria were studies performed between 2018 and 2023 on topics involving lifestyle medicine education. Exclusion criteria were studies over five years old and studies that did not focus on lifestyle medicine education in medical programs. Overall findings demonstrated second-year students developed increased confidence in topics of lifestyle medicine when compared to first- year students. However, both groups of students expressed they would benefit from additional learning modules and patient simulations focused on topics in lifestyle modification such as smoking/alcohol cessation and diet/exercise