Implementation of an Interprofessional Nutrition Workshop to Integrate Nutrition Education into a Preclinical Medical School Curriculum

Figures & data

Figure 1. The cumulative percent of student responses for each of the 6 survey items before and after the nutrition session. Responses were collapsed into 3 ordinal categories: Strongly Disagree/Disagree (red), Neither Agree nor Disagree (yellow), and Strongly Agree/Agree (green). There was a significant improvement in student’s self-perceived knowledge, comfort, and confidence completing a nutritional assessment with a patient (all p-values < 0.001), but no change in student’s beliefs about the importance of nutritional counseling and the role of the physician in the process.

Table 1. Mean (standard deviation) performance scores on the OSCE for the control group and the nutrition workshop group. Nutrition and Communication OSCE scores are depicted as a percentage score, whereas individual nutrition OSCE items are presented as a raw score (based on a scale from 0–2). * indicates p < 0.001.

	Control Group (N = 98)	Nutrition Workshop Group (N = 99)
Nutrition OSCE Score, %	48.3% (21.3%)	70.3% (19.9%)*
Did the student ask about your sleep?	0.41 (0.81)	0.77 (0.98)*
Did the student ask about your exercise or activity?	1.39 (0.93)	1.84 (0.55)*
Did the student gather complete details of what you consume in a typical day/within the last 24 hours?	0.42 (0.56)	1.36 (0.60)*
Did the student ask a follow up question to your stress or recent life changes?	1.65 (0.76)	1.66 (0.76)
Communication OSCE Score, %	87.0% (7.7%)	88.0% (8.7%)

Table

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
It is essential for physicians to know about nutritional issues.
Physicians should be competent in delivering nutrition counseling.
Nutrition counseling should be a part of routine care by all physicians regardless of specialty.
I have sufficient knowledge to be able to counsel a patient on nutritional matters.
I feel comfortable completing a nutritional assessment on patients.
I feel confident that I can advise patients about nutrition therapy.

Table

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
It is essential for physicians to know about nutritional issues.
Physicians should be competent in delivering nutrition counseling.
Nutrition counseling should be a part of routine care by all physicians regardless of specialty.
I have sufficient knowledge to be able to counsel a patient on nutritional matters.
I feel comfortable completing a nutritional assessment on patients.
I feel confident that I can advise patients about nutrition therapy.