Funding

Howard Heinz Endowment Funding

In 1991, the School of Medicine was awarded a five year grant from the Howard Heinz Endowment to initiate the development of a program for medical students to become competent in nutrition (PI: Gail Morrison, MD and Project Director: Lisa Hark, PhD, RD). This funding supported the establishment of the Nutrition Education Program and the development of course materials for a self-instructional, case-based curriculum required for first, second, and third year medical students. The approach to teaching nutrition was unique in that it was integrated across several courses and spanned numerous Departments, Centers and Institutes, including Medicine, Family Practice, Geriatrics, Surgery, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Pediatrics, Biostatistics and Clinical Epidemiology, the Institute on Aging, and the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders. Each content area is co-authored by a physician and dietitian and focuses on the integration of nutrition into the medical history and physical examination for the prevention and management of disease.

The basis for the nutrition curriculum included recommendations from the American Medical Association Council on Medical Education, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, the American Medical Students Association, and Healthy People 2000. We have paid particular attention to the General Professional Education of the Physician (GPEP) report which recommended that 30 to 50% of the time devoted to lectures be used instead in active learning experiences administered by interdisciplinary, interdepartmental committees, while integrating health promotion and disease prevention information throughout the curriculum rather than as a separate course. Once nutrition education was defined, the core faculty team developed nutrition related knowledge, skills, and attitudes which have been the foundation of the program.

National Cancer Institute Funding

In 1994 the Nutrition Education Program was awarded a three year grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to expand the introductory nutrition curriculum and develop, implement, and evaluate a similar educational model to integrate nutrition and cancer prevention throughout the four year medical school curriculum (PI: Gail Morrison, MD and Project Director: Lisa Hark, PhD, RD). The program goals included emphasizing nutrition's role in cancer prevention and treatment, providing positive role models for medical students, and identifying core faculty members within UPHS who could support the nutrition curriculum's activities.
Through this support, we were able to focus our efforts on disseminating our case-based nutrition curriculum and were approached by Blackwell Science to publish Medical Nutrition and Disease . This textbook consists of 12 chapters, which cover a broad overview of nutrition, including nutrition assessment, vitamins and minerals in health and disease, nutrition during the life-cycle (pregnancy, pediatrics, geriatrics), nutritional management and pathophysiology of diseases, and enteral and parenteral nutrition support.

Each chapter includes one to three clinical cases that have direct application to patient care and emphasize prevention of chronic diseases. All chapters and cases have been co-authored by teams of physicians and dietitians. Using a template that we established for consistency, all cases are structured such that they resembled an actual patient work-up. After the history and physical examination data is given, a list of questions is presented. Following this list, each question is answered in sentence format, offering students and other health professionals the opportunity for self-instructional learning. Most case answers are divided up according to diagnosis, medical implications, nutrition assessment, treatment, and management issues.

National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Funding

In 1997, the Nutrition Education Program was awarded a five year Nutrition Academic Award from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to expand develop, implement, evaluate, and disseminate a comprehensive medical nutrition curriculum focused on primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The curriculum has focused on developing a series of inter-related but independent modules which can be implemented in a variety of settings and for trainees at different levels of education. The curricular modules are organized within the following broad topics:

Within each of these core competencies, specific modules are being developed by multidisciplinary faculty teams. The programs focus on the discussion and evaluation of epidemiological evidence and controversies from animal, population, and observation research, metabolic studies, and intervention trials. Core Competencies for knowledge of nutrition principles developed. Core Competencies for clinical skills related to nutrition will also be developed. The program will focus on training students, residents and physicians to be able to acquire and implement the clinical skills on a consistent basis. A module will be defined as a self-contained educational experience encompassing core knowledge and skills competencies to achieve the desired objectives. For more information about the Nutrition Academic Award, click here.

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