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The Trump administration has pushed medical schools to spend more time teaching nutrition education to future doctors, and three local medical schools have since signed on to a national program called Advancing Nutrition Education
The Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and Cooper Medical School at Rowan University pledged to spend at least 40 hours teaching medical students about nutrition. Around the country, 73 schools have signed on to this program so far, out of more than 200 medical schools
In a recent statement announcing which schools signed on, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said “poor diets are the primary driver of America’s chronic disease epidemic” and that he wants doctors to help patients eat better, to help prevent future illness
Cooper Medical School already spends more than 40 hours teaching students about nutrition, but will look for ways to update their curriculum, said Sangita Phadtare, professor of biomedical sciences and assistant dean
“We are always evolving our curriculum to better prepare our students to meet the needs of their future patients,” she said. “There’s a lot of evidence-based literature, which is published on this topic, which shows that nutrition is paramount when you are thinking about preventing chronic diseases.”
As an example, she pointed to an experience she had while participating in the school’s community outreach work in Camden, where she learned that local diabetes patients weren’t sure how to read nutrition labels to buy food that fits their diets. The school will add case studies where medical students learn how to help patients read food labels and explain concepts likerecommended dietary allowances, which refer to how much of a nutrient most healthy people need per day
She said it’s important to add lessons about dietary deficiencies and community re as a food desert.”
Traditionally, medical schools have not included much coursework on nutrition, but that started to change a few years ago, saidRobert Danoff, a family doctor anddirector of the family medicine residency at Jefferson Health Northeast. He said he has seen more food- and nutrition-related diseases in patients, like fatty liver disease, gout and Type 2 diabetes
As an example, he recalled a recent visit with a patient who asked about weight loss medication. Danoff first asked his patient to log what they ate and drank for two weeks. That’s how Danoff learned the patient was drinking two 16-oz bottles of soda a day
Danoff added that it would be helpful if more doctors finish medical school able to help patients understand how nutrition relates to illness and refer patients to registered dietitians when needed
“Nutrition education is important as a baseline, just as knowing about orthopedics and cardiovascular disease, and it’s really important that we know about nutrition through the lifespan,” he said. “If we give our future doctors and health care providers these baseline educational offerings, it’s going to help them help our patients and help our population.”
Danoff has been calling for this change for a long time. In 2024, he helped writea proposed nutrition curriculum along with other experts in nutrition and medical education, which the Association of American Medical Colleges has sincerecommended to members
Temple and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine did not make anyone available for interviews, but they said in statements that the pledge to teach nutrition to medical students reflects what the schools have already been doing
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