Nutrition Curriculum In Medical Education: An Integrated And Comprehensive Approach

Background: In 1992 The University of Arizona, College of Medicine was awarded support from the NIH to develop an integrated, comprehensive nutrition curriculum for pre-doctorate education. Historically 35 hr of nutrition instruction were provided, including 9 of 40 essential nutrition topics identified by the American Society of Clinical Nutrition.Description: To meet the need for an expanded curriculum, course materials were revised and new materials were developed to provide 36 of the essential topics and 20 new topics in 75 hours of nutrition education.Evaluation: Change in student nutrition knowledge is currently being evaluated. Early analysis supports improvements in scores on a written nutrition examination and the objective structured clinical examination. Comparison scores of the same students over time will be available in late 1997.Conclusion: Effective curricula which provide appropriate quality and quantity of medical nutrition information can be developed within current medical education systems and without the need for a separate nutrition course or a significant increase in curriculum time.