Medical schools are avoiding nutrition education. A recent analysis availed in The Lancet Planetary Health depicted the way trainee doctors lack sufficient nutrition education when they are in medical school.
Notably, nutrition education is fundamental as it propels wellness, and this is instrumental in warding off severe conditions, such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease, among others.
This has proven detrimental as they lack substantial knowledge base when advising patients about nutritional matters in their careers.
Nutrition education not emphasized in medical schools
Findings from the analysis depicted that in spite of the fundamentality of nutrition education to a healthy lifestyle, medical students were not supported to offer useful and high-quality nutrition care.
According to Laura Moore, a Nourish Program Director at the University of Texas, medical schools should offer more courses with an emphasis on nutrition education as this could translate to optimal results for patients.
She noted that it was worrying about how nutrition education was not intertwined with the curricula of medical schools. This should change because medical students have the responsibility of offering nutrition education to patients as this would propel preventative care.
Medical students worried about their expertise in nutrition education
The study revealed that students from various medical schools felt unprepared if they were to undertake nutrition counseling. This was prompted by their inadequate nutrition skills and knowledge needed in supporting patients’ dietary behavior changes.
Different stakeholders believe that nutrition education should be taught throughout the medical curriculum.
This will be pivotal in making medical students better prepared when it comes to helping patients manage and prevent chronic ailments that have become disastrous. For instance, the national obesity rate is almost 40%.
On the other hand, a recent study revealed that nutrition and education should be viewed as the necessary correlation for positive outcomes.
Medical schools are continuously equipping their students with distinctive expertise. For instance, a new simulator platform, developed by EMS and Professor Stephen Duffull of the University of Otago School of Pharmacy in New Zealand, will help students in medical disciplines to develop their practical skills.
