AAMC Issues Call to Action to Strengthen Nutrition Training in Medical Education

• Press Release

Today, the AAMC issued a call to action for U.S. medical schools and academic health systems to strengthen nutrition education across all stages of the medical education continuum. The AAMC calls upon the deans and medical education leaders at its member medical schools to evaluate their institutions' current practices and identify, if needed, additional opportunities to further integrate nutrition education within their curricula.

"Nutrition is central to preventing, managing, and treating many of the chronic diseases that continue to drive morbidity, mortality, and health care costs in the United States. Physicians must be adequately prepared with the necessary competencies to address their patients' nutrition-related health needs in collaboration with other health professionals, including dietitians, nutritionists, nurses, occupational therapists, and public health professionals," said AAMC President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD. "Medical education has an essential role to play in advancing awareness and training in nutrition."

As noted in a Sept. 10 letter to the U.S. Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Education in response to the nutrition education initiative they announced on Aug. 27, the AAMC is committed to supporting its member institutions as they continue to further integrate targeted and longitudinal training opportunities in nutrition throughout every stage of medical education. Medical schools have seen significant increases in integrating this content within their educational programs. Specifically, in 2014, 38% of schools reported having nutrition content required in the curricula beyond that related to the basic sciences (metabolism, macro and micronutrients) and in 2024, that figure was 94%.

Building off this decade of work, the AAMC encourages medical schools and academic health systems to continue to identify areas of opportunity to further embed nutrition into their curricula, ensuring physicians are prepared to address the role of nutrition in patient care.

"The AAMC strongly supports flexibility in the ability of its member medical schools to integrate comprehensive evidence-based curricular content on nutrition across all stages of medical education in alignment with their unique missions and accreditation standards," said Skorton.

More information on the AAMC's call to action and commitment to strengthening nutrition education is available at aamc.org/nutrition.