Diet-related chronic diseases are now responsible for nearly 60 percent of U.S. deaths, and an estimated one million Americans die from diet-related chronic diseases each year. Despite overwhelming evidence that nutrition is one of the most powerful tools for disease prevention, the vast majority of physicians say they feel unprepared to discuss nutrition with their patients. The Advancing Nutrition Education Across the Medical Continuum initiative highlights America’s leading medical education institutions that are implementing comprehensive nutrition education and training.
By the numbers
36
Number of states with Schools or Universities committed to advancing nutrition education
80
Number of institutions of higher education committed to advancing nutrition education
52,000+
Number of medical students receiving enhanced nutrition education
Historic Commitments Across the Nation
The map below shows the institutions of higher education committed to advancing nutrition education across the United States.
Committed Organizations
HHS has received commitments from both medical schools and accrediting organizations to help advance nutrition education and training in medical education. Explore the organizations that have committed to this effort and learn more about their approaches below.
Committed Schools
Secretary Kennedy encouraged schools to commit to a minimum of 40 hours of required nutrition education across all four years of undergraduate medical education or a minimum 40-hour competency equivalent beginning in Fall 2026. To help schools in meeting this commitment, HHS developed a voluntary competency framework.
If your University is interested in learning more, please reach out to partnerwithus@hhs.gov.
The list below reflects the institutions of higher education committed to equipping medical students with enhanced nutrition education. Learn more about each school’s individual approach below.
Maine
University of New England School of Osteopathic Medicine (UNE COM)
At UNE COM, nutrition is integrated across the curriculum through team-based learning, clinical experiences, and case discussions for all students.
North Dakota
University of North Dakota (UND), School of Medicine & Health Sciences
Since 2020, UND's School of Medicine & Health Sciences requires at least 40 hours of focused nutrition education in class and clinic.
Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma College of Medicine (OUCOM)
OUCOM integrates nutrition as a core curricular element, preparing physicians to apply evidence-based dietary strategies for chronic disease prevention.
Kentucky
University of Pikeville (UPIKE) Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine (KYCOM)
UPIKE/KYCOM has always believed in a whole-person approach to the medical care of patients. This includes preventative medicine as well as treatment of chronic disease. Nutrition is a key part of health.
Alabama
University of South Alabama Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine
Metabolism to the Teaching Kitchen: A 4-year integrated curriculum featuring culinary medicine to improve patient outcomes across the Gulf Coast.
South Carolina
University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville (USC Greenville)
Since 2012, our lifestyle medicine curriculum includes 100+ hours of evidence-based instruction, including nutrition, for chronic disease prevention and treatment.
South Dakota
University of South Dakota (USD) Sanford School of Medicine
USD Sanford School of Medicine trains future physicians in nutrition and lifestyle medicine to advance the health of South Dakotans.
Florida
University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine
The University of South Florida confronts chronic disease by doubling hours in its longitudinal, integrated nutrition training for students.
Tennessee
University of Tennessee Health Science Center
UTHSC integrates “food as medicine” across training, care, and community engagement to advance nutrition and improve patient and population health outcomes.
Committed Accreditors
The organizations below include accreditors, assessors, and standards development organizations that have made commitments to further support nutrition across the medical education continuum.
- Vertical integration: aligning pre-clinical and clinical nutrition instruction across osteopathic programs
- Scaling proven models: culinary medicine programs, interdisciplinary workshops, community outreach
- Faculty development: expanding educator competency in nutrition and lifestyle counseling
- Seed research funding: food-as-medicine integration; nutrition programming and competition at Educating Leaders 202
- Position statement (Fall 2025): affirming responsibility of academic medicine to address nutrition in chronic disease context
- Integration at AAMC meetings: beginning fall 2025 across relevant educational convenings
- First-ever educator convening (April 2026): 'Best Practices in Medical Nutrition Education' at AAMC headquarters
- Assess and identify the most important nutrition content in initial and continuing certification programs and share those content domains with CME providers.
- Design and implement a practice-based QI activity for diplomates to increase nutritional counseling and interventions in their practices.
- Implement a Lifestyle Medicine focused practice designation that recognizes expertise in nutrition and five other domains.
- Public podcast (2026): Committed to Nutrition and Preventive Medicine
- Public catalog and web compilation (2025+): Curate and publish an aligned, accessible set of nutrition and preventive health learning activities for accredited providers
- Public reports (2026+): Summarize scope & quantity of nutrition-related CME activities to identify and fill gaps
- Specialty requirements by end of 2026: template for nutritional requirements for patient-facing specialties; accelerate adoption outside of usual Requirements revision cycle for effective date of academic year 2027
- New nutrition Milestones (2026): nutrition Milestones and Supplemental Guide content developed for use of direct care specialties
- Essay contest (2026): resident/fellow reflection on motivating patients toward healthy diet; winning essays disseminated nationally
- Counseling toolkit (goal: end of 2027): current guidelines, diet/lifestyle apps, patient motivation resources for residents & fellows
- 10+ hours of elective online education: modules, role-play scenarios, OSCEs, M&M; conference integration, clinical simulation resources available for use of programs
- Annual Educational Conference (2026-ongoing): feature annual sessions on nutrition at world’s largest GME conference
- Element 6.12 (already published): COMs must integrate evidence-based nutrition across pre-clinical & clinical curricula
- Submission requirements: 250-word integration description + curriculum map required
- New Element 7.3 added: 'Curriculum includes nutrition content for preventing & managing chronic disease'
- Compliance monitoring: enhanced data collection begins Spring 2026; full enforcement July 2027 (AY 2027-28)
- 15% Nutrition Content Across All USMLE Steps: Ensure nutrition science comprises 15% of content across all three USMLE Steps, aligned with evidence-based guidelines with individual and institutional score report feedback to drive accountability. Enhancements to nutrition content coming June 2026.
- Highlight Nutrition as a Core Content Area: Prominently highlight nutrition on all USMLE communications and materials, ensuring it is recognized as a priority content domain for examinees and medical schools alike.
- Sustained Quality via Expert-Guided Question Writing: Leverage content management practices with expert input to monitor, write, and review nutrition test questions, maintaining 15% coverage with evidence-based relevance and rigor across all Steps on an ongoing basis.
- Enhanced competency domain framework (FOMCD 2026): increased emphasis on nutrition aligned with whole-person osteopathic tenets and other competency frameworks
- COMLEX-USA blueprint (2027): enhanced to align with FOMCD 2026 and construct new test content based on new measurable outcomes
- C3DO enhancement: national clinical skills exam to incorporate nutritional/lifestyle counseling in patient cases
- COMAT-Nutrition in Patient Care: development underway; release targeted for 2027 (funding support requested for examinees)