How Nutrition Education for Doctors Is Evolving

Dr. Jaclyn Albin still recalls learning about nutritional biochemistry while she was a student at The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences. But by the time she graduated in 2009, nutrition’s relevance to disease states and patient care hadn’t been addressed. “Historically, nutrition education has been mostly rooted in biochemistry, pathology, and physiology with nutrient-focused content,” says Albin, who’s now an internist and pediatrician in Texas. “For example, we would learn about vitamin C and how it impacts various pathways in the body, as well as what deficiency might look like. These things are important, but students then struggle to relate this to patient care. It’s challenging to translate education hyper-focused on nutrients to the real-life questions a patient may have about food.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] That’s similar to what Dr. Milan Shah, a urologist in Los Angeles, experienced when he attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 2013. He says his medical education was excellent in terms of physiology and pharmacology, but nutrition training was introductory at best. “This is a concern, because nutrition training for physicians is extremely important but grossly undervalued,” he says. For example, in his specialty, nutrition can play a significant role in urologic health, which is why he’s spent considerable time researching ...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Health Care healthscienceclimate Source Type: news