Nutrition Education in Portuguese Medical Students: Impact on the Attitudes and Knowledge

Abstract

Introduction: Nutrition has been underrepresented in the curriculum of many medical schools and therefore physicians do not feel adequately prepared to provide dietary counselling. The aim of the present study is to determine the impact of a Nutrition and Metabolism curricular unit on nutrition attitudes, knowledge and confidence on future clinical practice of medical students.Material and Methods: All the students enrolled in the curricular unit (2017/2018) were invited to complete a questionnaire assessing their nutritional knowledge and eating habits at the beginning and at the end of the semester (n = 310).Results: Initially, students reported good eating habits and nutrition knowledge. These aspects improved at the end of the study. Moreover, students reported that they felt more confident to do dietary counselling after intervention.Discussion: Most medical students answered affirmatively to all questions related with good habits or eating behaviours, and the acquisition of knowledge had an impact in specific attitudes. After the Nutrition and Metabolism classes the students felt able to provide dietary counselling in different clinical settings, but none of the students felt extremely confident about their competencies for dietary counselling. This can be due to the fact that the students involved were in the first year of the integrated master’s degree in medicine, which is a preclinical year, and thus distant from the medical reality and from contact with patients.Conclusion: Nutrition education can have a positive impact on attitudes and eating behaviours, knowledge and in the perception of competencies for dietary counselling.

Evaluating nutrition education interventions for medical students: A rapid review

“…The median number of participants was 51, ranging from 15 20 to 3248 25 . Interventions either allowed students of all year groups to participate 22,25,32 or were specific to year 19,20,24,27,28,31 and clinical groups 18,21,23,26,29,30 . The median duration of all the interventions was 11 h, ranging from 90 min 19 to 75 h 26 .…”

“…25 Interventions either allowed students of all year groups to participate 22,25,32 or were specific to year 19,20,24,27,28,31 and clinical groups. 18,21,23,26,29,30 The median duration of all the interventions was 11 h, ranging from 90 min 19 to 75 h. 26 However, three studies did not report the length of the student-led component of the course. [29][30][31] Content areas and teaching methods Nine of the interventions addressed specific patient populations.…”

“…Most ( n = 12) of the studies were conducted in the USA, with the remaining from the UK, 20 the Netherlands 22 and Portugal 26 . Four of the interventions were required, 21,24,26,28 whereas the rest were elective (optional). Five of these interventions were described as pilot studies 18,20,29,31,32 .…”

“…For example, Coppoolse et al 22 implemented a 10‐week elective course involving 25 experts hosting lectures covering a different topic related to nutrition and disease over 25 h. Lectures included ‘nutrition and diabetes’, ‘nutrition and cancer’ and ‘nutrition and cardiovascular disease’. Nine interventions included basic nutrition science; for example, Mota et al 26 delivered a nutrition and metabolism required curricula unit for first year students. Contents included metabolic pathways, micro‐ and macronutrients, and regulation of food intake.…”

“…21,22,25 Learning outcomes were measured using the Best Evidence in Medical Education (BEME) adapted Kirkpatrick's hierarchy. 16 Learning outcomes achieved include changes in behaviour (Level 3), 21,23,25,26 knowledge (Level 2b), 20,22,27,30 attitudes (Level 2a) 28,29,31,32 and satisfaction (Level 1). 22,24 No studies reported an impact on delivery of care (level 4a) or patient outcomes (Level 4b).…”