注册营养师加强医学生营养教育
在美国，医学院校学生普遍缺乏营养学方面的课程教育。美国国家医学科学院（NAM）和美国医学院协会（AAMC）推荐医学生在校期间接受25个学时的营养学课程。然而，2013年调查显示在过去的十年间，71%的医学院校未达到该推荐时长。
为此，纽约长老会医院的16位注册营养师自2014年9月开始对康奈尔大学医学院222位三年级医学生开展共24期营养学课程，主要内容包括：住院患者营养护理、患者饮食服务、注册营养师的定位、营养不良、食物疗法、喂养方法及途径等。课程结束时，要求医学生完成调查问卷。
结果，调查回应率达100%，77%的医学生非常赞同、22%的医学生赞同医院内设置注册营养师的必要性。
因此，该调查表明营养学课程可使医学生获益，为后续住院医师及主治医师相关营养学教育奠定基础，有利于建立更高效的跨学科团队。
JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2017;41(2):278.
Registered dietitians enhancing nutrition education for medical students.
Georgia A. Giannopoulos; Kristen Mathieson.
Food and Nutrition, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, New York, USA.
Purpose: Medical schools have long identified a need to enhance medical student education on nutrition and have integrated nutrition education components into their curriculum. Both the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) recommend that every student receive 25 hours of dedicated nutrition education during the 4 years of medical school. However, a 2013 survey found that, over the past 10 years, most medical schools (71%) have not been meeting this recommendation. At New York-Presbyterian Hospital (NYP), our registered dietitians (RDs) developed and implemented a hands-on nutrition education program for medical students at Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC) focused on inpatient nutrition care, patient food service, and the role of clinical RDs.
Methods: RDs at NYP developed and led interactive education sessions for third-year medical students at WCMC during their Medicine Clerkship. Students tour the hospital's kitchen and participate in a small group round-table lunch-and-learn session with their classmates to learn about the role of clinical RDs, the nutrition care process, malnutrition, nutrition-focused physical exam, and other nutrition topics. Prior to each education session with RDs, medical students observe a nutrition assessment by a dietetic intern and then assess the nutrition status of a patient they are following in the hospital. Feedback is then provided at the education session. At the conclusion of each session, medical students are asked to complete a survey rating their experience, which captures both quantitative and qualitative data.
Results: Since September 2014, 16 NYP RDs held a total of 24 sessions for a total of 222 third-year year medical students at WCMC. Survey response rate was 100%. After the session, 77% of medical students strongly agreed and 22% agreed that they now understand the role of the RD in the hospital setting. Preferred topics included malnutrition, food as therapy, routes of feeding, and appropriate oral supplement use. Students described the sessions as "fun," "informative," "helpful," "relaxed," "warm," "welcoming," and "engaging." In this initiative, 16% (4 out of 25 hours) of the NAM's/AAMC's guidelines were met.
Conclusions: Our surveys demonstrated that medical students at WCMC found the nutrition education provided by NYP RDs beneficial. Approximately 30% of WCMC students join NYP as resident physicians after graduation, and many continue training in various fellowships or remain as attending physicians. The opportunity to instill the importance of nutrition therapy early on in a physician's training serves to enhance patient care, helps to improve physician health and wellbeing, and facilitates a more effective interdisciplinary team. Nutrition education will continue to be an integral component to medical students' education and for physicians' continuing education. By sharing our methods and results, we are hoping that our program may be replicated or integrated into medical student education throughout the United States and beyond.
DOI: 10.1177/0148607116686023