Evaluation of a novel nutrition education intervention for medical students

Abstract

year students.Format consisted of lectures delivered by specialist clinical dieticians attached to an af liated teaching hospital. Content focused onpractical issues related to diet rather than nutritional biochemistry. Topics covered a wide range of clinical areas including diabetes,nutritional assessment and cardiovascular disease. Forty-nine students enrolled on the module. Students also gave presentations on keynutritional messages to school-children as part of an Outreach component.A questionnaire based on course content was construct-validated against key clinical learning outcomes and administered at thebeginning and end of the module. A similar number of age and gender matched controls also completed the questionnaire. Four mainareas were assessed: students’ perceived knowledge; students’ knowledge based on a 19-question knowledge ‘test’; skills; and students’attitudes to nutrition education.Forty-seven students (96%) completed the questionnaire. The primary outcome measure consisted of change in knowledge, attitude andskills scores following intervention. The number of scores of ‘good’ or ‘very good’ in students’ self-perceived nutrition knowledge,assessed post-intervention, increased by 134% from the baseline level. Mean knowledge score increased signi cantly (‘baseline’ score- 9.5 vs . ‘post-intervention’ - 15.5), while the number of ‘good or ‘very good’ answers in the nutrition skills section increased by 192%from baseline level. Similar improvements were not observed in the control group. Students valued the opportunity to learn nutrition fromclinical dieticians.This study highlights medical students’ interest in and appreciation of nutrition education. Ideally, nutrition education should behorizontally and vertically integrated throughout the medical programme. Technology-enhanced learning offers opportunities for blendednutrition education in a crowded curriculum. The challenge will be to motivate and educate medical professionals to integrate nutritionalknowledge into daily clinical practice, acting as mentors and role models for tomorrow’s doctors.