Nutrition education in U.S. medical schools: latest update of a national survey. 2010

Kelly M Adams, and Martin Kohlmeier, and Steven H Zeisel
Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7461, USA. kadams@unc.edu

OBJECTIVE To quantify the number of required hours of nutrition education at U.S. medical schools and the types of courses in which the instruction was offered, and to compare these results with results from previous surveys. METHODS The authors distributed to all 127 accredited U.S. medical schools (that were matriculating students at the time of this study) a two-page online survey devised by the Nutrition in Medicine Project at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. From August 2008 through July 2009, the authors asked their contacts, most of whom were nutrition educators, to report the nutrition contact hours that were required for their medical students and whether those actual hours of nutrition education occurred in a designated nutrition course, within another course, or during clinical rotations. RESULTS Respondents from 109 (86%) of the targeted medical schools completed some part of the survey. Most schools (103/109) required some form of nutrition education. Of the 105 schools answering questions about courses and contact hours, only 26 (25%) required a dedicated nutrition course; in 2004, 32 (30%) of 106 schools did. Overall, medical students received 19.6 contact hours of nutrition instruction during their medical school careers (range: 0-70 hours); the average in 2004 was 22.3 hours. Only 28 (27%) of the 105 schools met the minimum 25 required hours set by the National Academy of Sciences; in 2004, 40 (38%) of 104 schools did so. CONCLUSIONS The amount of nutrition education that medical students receive continues to be inadequate.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D011795 Surveys and Questionnaires Collections of data obtained from voluntary subjects. The information usually takes the form of answers to questions, or suggestions. Community Survey,Nonrespondent,Questionnaire,Questionnaires,Respondent,Survey,Survey Method,Survey Methods,Surveys,Baseline Survey,Community Surveys,Methodology, Survey,Nonrespondents,Questionnaire Design,Randomized Response Technique,Repeated Rounds of Survey,Respondents,Survey Methodology,Baseline Surveys,Design, Questionnaire,Designs, Questionnaire,Methods, Survey,Questionnaire Designs,Questionnaires and Surveys,Randomized Response Techniques,Response Technique, Randomized,Response Techniques, Randomized,Survey, Baseline,Survey, Community,Surveys, Baseline,Surveys, Community,Techniques, Randomized Response
D003479 Curriculum A course of study offered by an educational institution. Curricula,Short-Term Courses,Course, Short-Term,Courses, Short-Term,Short Term Courses,Short-Term Course
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012577 Schools, Medical Educational institutions for individuals specializing in the field of medicine. Medical Schools,Medical School,School, Medical
D014481 United States A country in NORTH AMERICA between CANADA and MEXICO.
D052756 Nutritional Sciences The study of NUTRITION PROCESSES as well as the components of food, their actions, interaction, and balance in relation to health and disease. Nutrition Science,Nutrition Sciences,Nutritional Science,Science, Nutrition,Science, Nutritional,Sciences, Nutrition,Sciences, Nutritional

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