Metabolic Health Immersion for Medical Education: A Pilot Program with Continuous Glucose Monitors in Medical and Dental Students.

Diet-related chronic diseases are increasing in prevalence and poised to dominate the future careers of current medical students. While the value of nutritionally-informed care and nutrition-based health interventions is increasingly recognized, nutrition education is inconsistently and often inadequately included in medical school curricula. One obstacle to incorporating nutrition into medical and dental school curricula is the density of existing coursework, with incorporation of new material necessitating removal of other material.

Integrating Nutrition Education into Clinical Practice.

The power of physicians to educate patients about nutrition and provide the tools and motivation needed for patients to adopt healthy eating habits is under-utilized. To unleash that power, practicing physicians need to synthesize the latest in nutrition science, integrate it with the established body of evidence on healthy nutrition, and translate and communicate this knowledge to patients in a practical and effective way. Physicians and patients face similar barriers in discussing and incorporating healthy nutrition practices.

Shared Medical Appointments: A Portal for Nutrition and Culinary Education in Primary Care-A Pilot Feasibility Project.

Introduction: Diseases linked to obesity such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, degenerative joint disease, gastroesophageal reflux, and sleep apnea constitute a large portion of primary care visits. Patients with these conditions often lack knowledge, skills, and support needed to maintain health. Shared medical appointments (SMAs) that include culinary skills and nutrition education offer a novel, cost-effective way to address these diseases in primary care.

Nutrition attitudes and knowledge in medical students after completion of an integrated nutrition curriculum compared to a dedicated nutrition curriculum: a quasi-experimental study.

Background: Nutrition education has presented an ongoing challenge to medical educators. In the 2007-2008 academic year, Harvard Medical School replaced its dedicated Preventive Medicine and Nutrition course with an integrated curriculum. The objective of the current study was to assess the effect of the curriculum change on medical student attitudes and knowledge about nutrition.

Influence of the DASH diet and other low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets on blood pressure.

The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) and DASH-sodium trials were controlled feeding dietary trials that lowered blood pressure in the absence of weight loss. The beneficial aspect of DASH appears to be the low saturated fat content (< 7%). Sodium restriction added additional blood pressure lowering to the low saturated fat DASH diet.

Impact of a preventive medicine and nutrition curriculum for medical students.

Background: United States public health goals call for increased physician counseling about diet and exercise, but many medical schools lack adequate curriculum on these topics. At Harvard Medical School, second-year students take a preventive medicine and nutrition (PMN) course. This study evaluated the impact of this innovative curriculum on students' confidence about addressing patients' diet and exercise patterns and on their own health habits.