Current practices in the instruction of lifestyle medicine in medical curricula

A review of current practices of educational interventions for lifestyle medicine was performed to inform the design of interventions with long-term goals of improving patient outcomes.

Systematic review of PubMed, MedEdPORTAL, and Cochrane using keywords "lifestyle medicine," "education," "medical students," and "medical school" was done by 3 independent reviewers. Location, learner, curricular hours, focus, outcomes, and impact are reported.

Of 452 identified citations, 32 met criteria. Most studies (81%) were conducted in the U.S. and designed for medical students (72%). Studies focused primarily on nutrition (78%) and exercise (59%). Curricula were delivered on average across 13.7 h. Lectures were used in 53% of papers. The outcomes most commonly studied were satisfaction (66%,), knowledge perception (66%), and reported clinical practices (34%). Intervention impact at level 2b (31%) and level 3 (34%) were most common.

Medical educators looking to integrate lifestyle education curriculum should consider current resources as a starting point, especially ones with higher outcome measurements.

Novel interventions should target lifestyle medicine competencies with equitable distribution among learners using active learning approaches. The authors propose initial efforts focusing on instruction of clinical educators and practicing physicians, with advocacy for increased reimbursement.