Abstract
Background
Only 14 % of American physicians report that they feel adequately trained to provide nutritional counselling. The average number of nutrition teaching hours in American medical schools is falling below recommendations by the National Academy of Sciences and nutritional education in the medical school curriculum is currently an important discussion topic.
Aims
This study aimed to review the teaching hours delivered during a 6-year medical programme at The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland-Bahrain (RCSI-B) and define the importance of nutritional education for medical students.
Methods
Lecture time regarding the topic of nutrition was quantified by studying the contents of the 6-year course materials on the Moodle® platform virtual learning environment used by RCSI-B.
Results
Students are exposed to approximately 15 h of education in nutrition during their medical studies at RCSI-B.
Conclusions
The 15 h spent educating RCSI-B medical students on nutrition is inadequate according to international recommendations. However, RCSI-B is one of many medical schools that do not reach the minimum required hours (25–44) as set by the National Academy of Sciences and the American Society for Nutrition. We recommend that more teaching hours on nutrition be introduced into the curriculum. These extra teaching hours may greatly benefit RCSI-B students, patients and public health in Bahrain.
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Acknowledgments
The idea for this study was based on discussions with Patrick Walsh B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D., CBiol., FSB, FIBMS., Senior Lecturer in Physiology, RCSI-B. We are grateful to Wayne Cunningham MB. BCh., M.G.P., M.D., F.R.N.Z.C.G.P., Professor of Family Medicine, RCSI-Bahrain for review of the manuscript.
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This study was funded by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland-Bahrain, Research Summer School Program.
Conflict of interest
Kevin Schreiber is a student at RCSI-Bahrain and received a small grant/award from RCSI-Bahrain to encourage student involvement in research. Prof. Frank Cunningham is an employee of RCSI-Bahrain. However, neither of the authors feel that these associations had any impact on the content of this paper.
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This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.
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Schreiber, K.R., Cunningham, F.O. Nutrition education in the medical school curriculum: a review of the course content at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland-Bahrain. Ir J Med Sci 185, 853–856 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-015-1380-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-015-1380-8