title: How medical students' behaviors and attitudes affect the impact of a brief curriculum on nutrition counseling.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate a nutrition curriculum and explore the influence of medical students' own nutrition practices on its impact.
  
  
  METHODS
  An anonymous survey was given to first-year medical students attending a required course immediately prior to and 2 weeks after a 2-hour interactive nutrition curriculum intervention in a large private urban medical school in New York, New York. Main outcomes included self-reported nutrition counseling confidence, ability to assess diet, and nutrition knowledge measured using 4-point Likert scales.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred eleven students completed surveys pre-curriculum (69%) and 121 completed them post-curriculum (75%). The authors found overall pre-post differences in dietary assessment ability (2.65 vs 3.05, P < .001) and counseling confidence (1.86 vs 2.22, P < .001). In addition to the curricular impact, students' nutrition-related behaviors and attitudes were positively associated with outcomes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A nutrition curriculum for medical students improves students' nutrition counseling-related confidence, knowledge, and skills even when controlling for personal nutrition-related behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA. sschlair@montefiore.org
authors.forename: Sheira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schlair
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hanley
authors.forename: Colleen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gillespie
authors.forename: Lindsey
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Disney
authors.forename: Adina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kalet
authors.forename: Pamella C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Darby
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Frank
authors.forename: Elsa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jay
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D003376:Counseling; D003479:Curriculum; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D052756:Nutritional Sciences / Q000193:education*; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult