Great post! Where I live in British Columbia, Canada, anyone can talk to an RD (or exercise physiologist) through the 811 program Mon-Fri, business hours FOR FREE. It's not a perfect program, they can't really do follow-ups or longitudinal care, but I am SO GRATEFUL for this service as a primary care RN. I so deeply value the expertise of RDs and the accessibility of this program has meant I have been able to redirect SO many clients from paying for unregulated, and sometimes unethical, nutrition adivce.
I'm a first year medical student with a strong interest in nutrition, and I worked as a nutrition counselor at WIC before starting school. I can't emphasize your first bullet point enough. I've found it very disappointing that there are few clear, standardized training paths for physicians that want to have evidence based nutrition interventions as a focus in their practice. I think it's worth noting that there likely won't be any large adoption of nutrition ed in the curriculum unless the USMLE exams start testing nutrition concepts. So much of what students choose to focus on is dictated by the board exams, and as far as I know they only really cover a few nutrient deficiencies and a couple of diets like DASH.
I would love if my medical school and others allowed students to take some of the courses in the RD curriculum as electives but thus far that isn't an option. It would give students a better insight to RDs' scope and and make the new generation of physicians more reticent to utilize them (though no major changes until reimbursement schemes are changed, like you said). I'm planning on passing along your article to my dean and the program director for the RD students to encourage more collaboration and hopefully open up some curricular cross-pollination. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for your comment Mitch! I think a major solution to this is to really popularize nutrition undergraduate degrees as one of the optimal premed undergraduate majors, which will take high school and undergraduate guidance counselors emphasizing it more. The default to biology being the premed degree stops being relevant after the first couple years while the upper level nutrition classes are amazing previews of MS1/2 concepts. I think this can definitely happen more as dietetics has moved to an entry-level Masters degree. It still wont give the 1200 hr internship component but it'll create a much easier time for physicians to be nutriton informed and advocates where it makes sense to be (& empower RDs/PharmDs/nurses/SLPs/Social work to tackle nutrition in all of its forms)
If we’re giving out pamphlets, please let one be about how to refer to a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN). Maybe another one about staying in your lane?
Everybody wants 1-3 hours of our time in medical school. I don’t remember 90% of what I was exposed to 25 years ago. What I did remember was how to build a team around me. Physicians can’t be the expert on everything. The healthcare model has to change. RDs are a vital part of a patient’s care team.
Great post! Where I live in British Columbia, Canada, anyone can talk to an RD (or exercise physiologist) through the 811 program Mon-Fri, business hours FOR FREE. It's not a perfect program, they can't really do follow-ups or longitudinal care, but I am SO GRATEFUL for this service as a primary care RN. I so deeply value the expertise of RDs and the accessibility of this program has meant I have been able to redirect SO many clients from paying for unregulated, and sometimes unethical, nutrition adivce.
I'm a first year medical student with a strong interest in nutrition, and I worked as a nutrition counselor at WIC before starting school. I can't emphasize your first bullet point enough. I've found it very disappointing that there are few clear, standardized training paths for physicians that want to have evidence based nutrition interventions as a focus in their practice. I think it's worth noting that there likely won't be any large adoption of nutrition ed in the curriculum unless the USMLE exams start testing nutrition concepts. So much of what students choose to focus on is dictated by the board exams, and as far as I know they only really cover a few nutrient deficiencies and a couple of diets like DASH.
I would love if my medical school and others allowed students to take some of the courses in the RD curriculum as electives but thus far that isn't an option. It would give students a better insight to RDs' scope and and make the new generation of physicians more reticent to utilize them (though no major changes until reimbursement schemes are changed, like you said). I'm planning on passing along your article to my dean and the program director for the RD students to encourage more collaboration and hopefully open up some curricular cross-pollination. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for your comment Mitch! I think a major solution to this is to really popularize nutrition undergraduate degrees as one of the optimal premed undergraduate majors, which will take high school and undergraduate guidance counselors emphasizing it more. The default to biology being the premed degree stops being relevant after the first couple years while the upper level nutrition classes are amazing previews of MS1/2 concepts. I think this can definitely happen more as dietetics has moved to an entry-level Masters degree. It still wont give the 1200 hr internship component but it'll create a much easier time for physicians to be nutriton informed and advocates where it makes sense to be (& empower RDs/PharmDs/nurses/SLPs/Social work to tackle nutrition in all of its forms)
If we’re giving out pamphlets, please let one be about how to refer to a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN). Maybe another one about staying in your lane?
Everybody wants 1-3 hours of our time in medical school. I don’t remember 90% of what I was exposed to 25 years ago. What I did remember was how to build a team around me. Physicians can’t be the expert on everything. The healthcare model has to change. RDs are a vital part of a patient’s care team.
If someone needs telling not to eat a pamphlet, we really are doomed… 🤣