An Analysis of Nutritional Knowledge and Importance in Medical Education

Abstract

The Nutrition and Medicine program at Creighton University School of Medicine aimed to bridge the gap between medical education and the role of nutrition in patient care. Recognizing the limited nutrition education in the medical curriculum, the program offered monthly workshops led by medical students and physicians. These sessions covered evidence-based nutrition topics, current trends, and the impact of social media on nutritional knowledge. The Nutrition and Medicine program hosted monthly student-led workshops to discuss current, evidence-based nutrition topics. Workshops were conducted and followed by pre- and post-session surveys assessing students’ self-reported confidence in their nutritional knowledge, as well as their information sources and perceptions of social media’s influence. Nutrition knowledge was not directly tested. Medical students demonstrated a statistically significant increase in self-reported confidence in their own nutritional knowledge following session attendance (P < .0001). Baseline surveys reflected low to moderate confidence, with post-session responses showing movement toward the “confident” range on a 5-point Likert scale. Structured, student-led nutrition programming was associated with improved self-reported confidence in nutritional knowledge among medical students. These findings suggest that scalable, peer-led educational initiatives may help address gaps in nutrition-related self-efficacy within medical training.