WVU in the News: Can MAHA Change the Way Medical Schools Teach Nutrition?

In early March, in the lobby of the Department of Health and Human Services, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stood alongside medical leaders and other cabinet members to make an announcement.

The administration had secured agreements with over 50 medical schools to provide at least 40 hours of nutrition education as part of a medical-school degree, Kennedy said—nearly a third of the roughly 160 accredited medical schools in the United States. Major medical groups like the American Medical Association (AMA) and the Association of American Medical Colleges also had added their support.

In 2013, West Virginia University (WVU) started a pathway with a core nutrition education program of 67.5 hours. Today, students pursuing the Culinary and Lifestyle Medicine track take another 225 hours, learning culinary stills and ways to manage patients’ diet and lifestyles, among other subjects.