The USF Health Center is doubling the College of Medicine’s nutrition training hours

Tampa, Fla. — USF Health’s College of Medicine nearly doubles the number of hours students will spend learning about nutrition.

This comes as the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education received voluntary commitments from schools across the country to require at least 40 hours of nutrition education or the equivalent of the test.

Medical students work hard, but second-year student Gabriela Sanchez says the work is worth the reward.

“Especially when you go out and use what you’ve learned in the community, and you work as a volunteer, you can apply what you’ve learned,” said Sanchez, a USF Health Mersani College of Medicine student.

Part of being a medical student is learning nutrition. Students of Morsani Faculty of Medicine learn about food-related diseases through a 36-hour nutrition training.

“We can talk about nutrition in general as we should get it every day. There are also health conditions that complicate nutrition for some people, where we want to make sure we’re not deficient in certain things,” Sanchez said.

But starting in June, that will double to about 76 hours of nutrition training. The USF Health Mersani School of Medicine joins more than 50 medical schools across the country in voluntarily committing to 40 hours of nutrition training encouraged by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

“I think that’s a good idea, as long as we have time to learn everything else we need to, right?” Sanchez said.

Nutrition training is already built into their courses, so a senior associate in undergraduate medical education said it would be easier to adjust the curriculum without the pressure of too much material. School officials said their students are taught lifelong learning and stay up-to-date with literature throughout their careers.

“What we’re teaching them in those 76 hours for nutrition isn’t going to end, it’s going to be all. In fact, five years from now, we’ll probably be giving them something different because it’s going to evolve,” said Dr. Debrah Devay, senior vice president of undergraduate medical education at USF Health’s Marsani College of Medicine.

Dr. Debrah Devay was at the HHS announcement to celebrate the Med School’s new commitment. An HHS spokesman said an estimated one million Americans die each year from chronic food-related illness. That’s why they prioritize healthy food.

“Med students will come out of school with this education, this backbone, so they can continue to help their patients and help them find the nutrition they need to live healthy lives,” HHS Press Secretary Emily Hillard said.

While Sanchez is still figuring out what specialty she will focus on after graduation, she said having a knowledge of food is always important.

“No matter what field you go to, that’s going to be what you’re going to be. So you need to have an understanding, at least a baseline, to be able to understand what’s going on,” Sanchez said.

The National Institutes of Health is donating $5 million to support medical school programs that integrate nutrition education into their curriculum. The money will help institutions develop courses, clinical training and research.