Background: Chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and colorectal cancer, remain leading contributors to morbidity and mortality in the United States. Despite strong evidence linking these conditions to modifiable dietary behaviors, nutrition education in medical training remains limited and often lacks clinically applicable counseling strategies. Scalable, evidence-based nutrition education may help address this gap.
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of Food as Medicine: Nutrition for Treatment and Risk Reduction, a structured educational program developed by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM).
Methods: We conducted a prospective, single-group, quasi-experimental pre–post study among 64 osteopathic medical students (OMS I–III) who completed a three-hour course on preventive nutrition, evidence-based dietary patterns, and practical implementation strategies. The cohort was primarily aged 23–28 years (89%) and predominantly female. Pre- and post-course surveys assessed nutrition knowledge, confidence and attitudes, satisfaction, and perceptions of lifestyle medicine in clinical practice and medical education. Paired comparative analyses evaluated pre–post changes.
Results: Mean nutrition knowledge scores increased from 86.4% to 89.9%. Participants reported high satisfaction and increased confidence in applying nutrition knowledge and counseling skills, with shifts from lower to higher confidence levels. Positive changes were also observed in perceptions of lifestyle medicine, patient counseling, and its role in clinical practice and medical education.
Conclusions: A brief, standardized nutrition education intervention is feasible and improves nutrition knowledge, confidence, and perceptions among medical trainees. Limitations include absence of a control group and reliance on short-term, self-reported outcomes.
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of Food as Medicine: Nutrition for Treatment and Risk Reduction, a structured educational program developed by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM).
Methods: We conducted a prospective, single-group, quasi-experimental pre–post study among 64 osteopathic medical students (OMS I–III) who completed a three-hour course on preventive nutrition, evidence-based dietary patterns, and practical implementation strategies. The cohort was primarily aged 23–28 years (89%) and predominantly female. Pre- and post-course surveys assessed nutrition knowledge, confidence and attitudes, satisfaction, and perceptions of lifestyle medicine in clinical practice and medical education. Paired comparative analyses evaluated pre–post changes.
Results: Mean nutrition knowledge scores increased from 86.4% to 89.9%. Participants reported high satisfaction and increased confidence in applying nutrition knowledge and counseling skills, with shifts from lower to higher confidence levels. Positive changes were also observed in perceptions of lifestyle medicine, patient counseling, and its role in clinical practice and medical education.
Conclusions: A brief, standardized nutrition education intervention is feasible and improves nutrition knowledge, confidence, and perceptions among medical trainees. Limitations include absence of a control group and reliance on short-term, self-reported outcomes.