Division of Nutrition (DON) faculty are actively engaged as directors and tutors for many courses and participate in the development of nutrition educational materials used by other courses in the Harvard Medical School (HMS) curriculum.
Since 2020, HMS has included “Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine” Longitudinal Discipline across the 4-year medical school curriculum. The overarching goal of this thematic Discipline is to support students in acquiring knowledge and clinical skills that encourage patients’ adoption and maintenance of healthy diet and active lifestyle to prevent and/or treat medical conditions and optimize health across populations. The curriculum content relevant to the "Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine" Longitudinal Discipline is tracked and collated into a HMS Canvas page for students and faculty.
Many core nutrition resources are available on this "Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine" Longitudinal Discipline page, including material that students can use in their clinical encounters all along their academic curriculum at HMS.
Preclerkship Phase
Core nutrition principles are covered in several of the core courses including: Practice of Medicine (POM); Foundations; Essentials of the Profession; Integrated Human Pathophysiology (I, II, and III); Immunity in Defense and Disease; Mind, Brain and Behavior; and BRIDGES courses (preparation to clerkship).
Embedded into the core HMS courses, topics include the impact of nutrient deficiencies on anemia and other diseases, role of nutrition in management of chronic diseases (diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis, gout, celiac disease, obesity, etc.), enteral and parenteral nutrition, eating disorders, bariatric surgery, and common diets (e.g. Mediterranean diet).
As part of Practice of Medicine (POM), students learn clinical skills relevant to nutritional assessment and counselling in primary care settings: educational material covers motivational interviewing concepts, and how to discuss challenges in access to food and healthy plate concepts with patients. A core POM session is devoted to nutrition in older individuals, and students can improve their clinical skills with exclusive material (learning videos, nutrition guide, nutrition pocket card) built by HMS faculty-students collaboration.
As part of the BRIDGE courses, students prepare to enter clinical experiences. BRIDGES include asynchronous nutrition modules offered by the The Gaples Institute. The modules offer an interactive learning experience that covers common topics relevant to contemporary clinical practice of medicine (e.g. dietary patterns to prevent and treat cardiovascular disease) and tackle questions frequently posed by patients.
Principal Clinical Experience (PCE) Phase
This 12-month integrated program of study provides students a base clinical exposure to the broad disciplines of medicine and experiences at a single hospital.
Post PCE Phase
For remaining time in medical school, students engage in rigorous coursework with a new and deeper understanding of its importance through advanced integrated science courses (AISCs), clinical electives, and scholarly research projects. Students are required to take two AISCs courses among multiple offerings and have the opportunity to take several clinical electives.
Advanced Integrated Sciences Course (AISC)
The Nutrition, Metabolism and Lifestyle Medicine AISC has been offered since spring 2019. The course covers a broad range of topics including how nutrition and lifestyle choices influence health and diseases throughout the life course; nutrition, physical activity, and behavior change as integral part of management of many medical conditions; novel technologies to measure lifestyle behaviors; and behavioral approaches for clinical integration and for personal health.