AAMC: Med schools must add more nutrition education

American medical schools must bolster their curricula with more dietary and nutritional education.

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has issued a call to action for medical schools and academic health systems to re-examine their coursework and training on nutrition.

“Nutrition is central to preventing, managing, and treating many of the chronic diseases that continue to drive morbidity, mortality, and health care costs in the United States,” AAMC President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD, said in the organization’s announcement.

“Physicians must be adequately prepared with the necessary competencies to address their patients’ nutrition-related health needs in collaboration with other health professionals, including dietitians, nutritionists, nurses, occupational therapists, and public health professionals,” he said. “Medical education has an essential role to play in advancing awareness and training in nutrition.”

AAMC’s declaration is the latest step in the shift to greater emphasis on the role of food in the chronic diseases plaguing the nation. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has targeted diet and nutrition as part of the Make America Healthy Again initiative, and this year he called for medical schools to commit to enhance nutritional training. In a Sept. 10 letter to Kennedy, AAMC agreed, noting cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension and certain cancers are key drivers of morbidity, mortality and health care costs across the nation.

• This fall, the association’s regional gatherings will begin integrating nutritional education. “This commitment ensures that nutrition is not only recognized as a vital contributor to health outcomes but also positioned as a strategic educational priority for medical schools and teaching hospitals and health systems nationwide,” the AAMC letter said.
• In April 2026, AAMC will host “Convening on Best Practices in Medical Nutrition Education.” It will be a first-of-its-kind event for medical educators, co-hosted by the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative, the National Board of Medical Examiners, and other groups.
• AAMC also signed on as co-sponsor of this year’s Teaching Kitchen Collaborative Annual Conference and as participant in the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine for a 2025 Leadership Summit.

The AAMC letter said its members are excited about progress in dietary and nutritional training for doctors. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) and the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation are the accrediting boards that will set standards for the medical education. This fall, LCME opened a public comment period for curricular revision to include additional diet and nutrition instruction for budding doctors.

Even before Kennedy’s tenure, medical schools have been adding nutritional training. In 2014, 38% of school reported having nutrition content required in their curricula beyond basic science of metabolism, macronutrients and micronutrients. By 2024, that percentage had grown to 94%, AAMC said, citing its own data from member institutions.

The association announcement said AAMC encourages medical schools and academic health systems to build on that decade of work.

“The AAMC strongly supports flexibility in the ability of its member medical schools to integrate comprehensive evidence-based curricular content on nutrition across all stages of medical education in alignment with their unique missions and accreditation standards,” Skorton said.