Abstract
BackgroundThe provision of nutrition care by doctors is important in promoting healthy dietary habits, and such interventions can lead to reductions in disease morbidity, mortality, and medical costs. However, medical students and doctors report inadequate nutrition education and preparedness during their training at school. Previous studies investigating the inadequacy of nutrition education have not sufficiently evaluated the perspectives of students. In this study, students’ perspectives on doctors’ role in nutrition care, perceived barriers, and strategies to improve nutrition educational experiences are explored.MethodsA total of 23 undergraduate clinical level medical students at the 5th to final year in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University for Development Studies in Ghana were purposefully selected to participate in semi-structured individual interviews. Students expressed their opinions and experiences regarding the inadequacy of nutrition education in the curriculum. Each interview was audio-recorded and later transcribed verbatim. Using the constant comparison method, key themes were identified from the data and analysis was done simultaneously with data collection.ResultsStudents opined that doctors have an important role to play in providing nutrition care to their patients. However, they felt their nutrition education was inadequate due to lack of priority for nutrition education, lack of faculty to provide nutrition education, poor application of nutrition science to clinical practice and poor collaboration with nutrition professionals. Students opined that their nutrition educational experiences will be improved if the following strategies were implemented: adoption of innovative teaching and learning strategies, early and comprehensive incorporation of nutrition as a theme throughout the curriculum, increasing awareness on the importance of nutrition education, reviewing and revision of the curriculum to incorporate nutrition, and involving nutrition/dietician specialists in medical education.ConclusionThough students considered nutrition care as an important role for doctors they felt incapacitated by non-prioritisation of nutrition education, lack of faculty for teaching of nutrition education, poor application of nutrition science and poor collaboration with nutrition professionals. Incorporation of nutrition as a theme in medical education, improving collaboration, advocacy and creating enabling environments for nutrition education could address some of the barriers to nutrition education.
Highlights
The provision of nutrition care by doctors is important in promoting healthy dietary habits, and such interventions can lead to reductions in disease morbidity, mortality, and medical costs
Several studies investigating the situation of nutrition education in the medical curriculum have found both practicing doctors and medical students reporting inadequate nutrition education during medical school [14, 17,18,19,20,21]
Nutrition education in the medical school setting is a learning process that is influenced by factors within the academic environment relating to the quantity, quality and nutrition content in the curriculum as well as the teaching and learning methods employed and the reinforcement experienced by the individual and by others
Summary
The provision of nutrition care by doctors is important in promoting healthy dietary habits, and such interventions can lead to reductions in disease morbidity, mortality, and medical costs. Medical students and doctors report inadequate nutrition education and preparedness during their training at school. Research suggests that practicing doctors lack sufficient nutrition care competencies to provide dietary advice to their patients [10,11,12,13,14,15]. Several studies investigating the situation of nutrition education in the medical curriculum have found both practicing doctors and medical students reporting inadequate nutrition education during medical school [14, 17,18,19,20,21]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
