Introduction to Nutrition Education in Training Medical and Other Health Care Professionals

Abstract

Advances in science increasingly provide robust evidence documenting the centrality of good nutrition and healthy lifestyle practices in the prevention of chronic diseases to benefit all patients in the health care system. Federal policies such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009, as well as calls for action by professional societies, have endorsed the importance of nutrition in promoting better health outcomes. The recent report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines includes specific recommendations for diet and lifestyle changes that require fundamental knowledge and understanding of nutrition and physical activity for effective implementation (1). Physicians play a key role in the health care system both individually and as team members along with other health care professionals in the delivery of quality health care. With each patient encounter, physicians are positioned on the front lines to increase awareness and personalize the importance of adopting good nutrition and lifestyle practices for the prevention and treatment of disease. They also are very credible advocates for other health care professionals and policy makers in achieving the integration of nutrition throughout the health care system. A core tenet of this supplement issue is that deeper, more systemswide knowledge of nutrition and competency in its application are fundamental to effective team-based patient care. Although the importance of nutrition may be acknowledged, the education and training needed to effectively influence patient care within and between disciplines is lacking (reviewed in reference 2). To initiate systemswide change, the current model for nutrition education of health care professionals must be modified. This supplement issue proposes a framework developed by a multidisciplinary team of health and nutrition educators, clinicians, policy makers, and analysts designed to implement and evaluate a contemporary, synergistic nutrition education curriculum for health care professionals. It advocates for common core nutrition knowledge and practice competencies and recognizes and differentiates the unique skills and talents inherent among the broad range of relevant health care professionals. Consistent with current trends in medical education, nutrition education and training must include an appreciation for team-based, interprofessional patient care. Finally, there is a need for research to evaluate the effectiveness of innovative teaching strategies and how best to implement the new curriculum and assess its effects on patient and population health. The success of this endeavor depends on active engagement and deep commitment of all stakeholders accompanied by resources and incentives to drive this needed change. Numerous organizations and agencies have ongoing activities that advocate for changing the curriculum for health care professionals. The impetus for this supplement issue was a meeting entitled “Future Directions for Implementing Nutrition across the Continuum of Medical Education, Training, and Research,” which was convened by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, and cosponsored by the NIH Office of Disease Prevention and Division of Nutrition Research Coordination in September 2012. An important outcome of the meeting was that recommendations were made to implement nutrition across the continuum of medical and health care profession education, training, and research. Working groups met to discuss how best to effectively implement nutrition education for medical and all health care professions. This supplement issue is the result and presents our view of the needs and best practices for thoughtful and culturally sensitive change across the continuum of health care education.