Nutrition education in European medical schools: results of an international survey.
Consumers and patients are unsure of whom to trust for nutritional advice. Although medical doctors are seen as experts in nutrition and their advice is regularly followed, data are lacking on the amount of nutrition education in European medical school curricula. In line with US research, we distributed a survey on required and/or optional nutrition contact hours to medical education directors of all accredited medical schools (N=217) in Western European Union countries (N=14). In total, respondents from 32 medical schools (14.7%) from 10 countries indicated that nutrition education, in some form, was required in 68.8% of schools where, on average, 23.68 h of required nutrition education was provided. The results from this small-scale survey are comparable to a 2010 US study; conversely, European educators were satisfied with the amount of nutrition education. We substantiate the increasing concern over the inadequate amounts of nutrition education provided to medical students in Europe.
Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, School of Nutrition Toxicology and Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
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Chung
Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
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van Buul
Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, School of Nutrition Toxicology and Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
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Wilms
Department of Neurology & Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
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Nellessen
Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, School of Nutrition Toxicology and Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
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Brouns
D000068:Accreditation; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum; D003625:Data Collection; D005062:European Union; D006801:Humans; D052756:Nutritional Sciences / Q000193:education*; D012577:Schools, Medical