The Association of American Medical Colleges is calling on medical schools and academic medical centers to strengthen nutrition education across all stages of medical training.
In a Nov. 6 call to action, the association urged deans and medical education leaders at member institutions to evaluate current practices and identify ways to further embed nutrition in 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,” AAMC President and CEO David Skorton, MD, said in a news release. “Physicians must be adequately prepared with the necessary competencies to address their patients’ nutrition-related health needs in collaboration with other health professionals.”
The call follows an Aug. 27 directive from HHS and the Department of Education, which called for reforms to nutrition education as part of the Make America Healthy Again initiative.
The AAMC said the effort builds on more than a decade of work to improve nutrition training. In 2014, just 38% of schools reported requiring nutrition content beyond the basic sciences. That figure rose to 94% in 2024.
