No.
While most medical programs require some kind of education in nutrition, only around one-fifth require a course explicitly dedicated to the subject, studies have found. The University of Arizona College of Medicine, for example, currently requires a course in digestion, metabolism and hormones, with some study of nutrition.
Research suggests that most medical students in the United States receive between 11 and 20 hours of nutrition education over the course of their medical education—about 1% of all lecture time, on average. In 1985, the U.S. Committee on Nutrition in Medical Education recommended a minimum of 25 hours be spent on nutrition education in medical school.
A 2014 survey of 248 primary care physicians found only around 14% felt adequately prepared to offer nutrition guidance to their patients. In 2022, U.S. House lawmakers passed a resolution calling for more nutrition-specific education in medical programs.
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The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs, or quick-response fact checks, about trending claims relating to Arizona.
Sources
- Advances in Nutrition, There and Back Again: A Forty-Year Perspective on Physician Nutrition Education
- Academic Medicine, Nutrition Education in U.S. Medical Schools: Latest Update of a National Survey
- University of Arizona College of Medicine Tucson, MD Curriculum Phases
- Stanford Medicine, Why Medical Schools Need to Focus More on Nutrition
- American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, Physicians’ Dietary Knowledge, Attitudes, and Counseling Practices: The Experience of a Single Health Care Center at Changing the Landscape for Dietary Education
- Journal of Biomedical Education, The State of Nutrition Education at US Medical Schools
- US House of Representatives, 117th Congress, House Resolution 1118
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The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is partnering with Gigafact to produce timely fact briefs, or quick-response fact checks, about trending claims relating to Arizona.
