How the Miller School of Medicine Integrates Nutrition Education Across All Four Years of Medical School
Summary
- At the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, a new nutrition curriculum aims to ensure that future physicians graduate with the knowledge to address diet as a cornerstone of patient care.
- The initiative grew out of a growing recognition that diet‑related chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease account for a substantial share of preventable illness and death in the United States.
- The nutrition curriculum is intentionally longitudinal, spanning all phases of the NextGenMD program and reinforcing key concepts as students progress from foundational science to clinical practice.
At the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, a comprehensive nutrition curriculum aims to ensure that future physicians graduate with the knowledge, skills and confidence to address diet as a cornerstone of patient care.
Rather than treating nutrition as an elective or add‑on, the Miller School has woven evidence‑based nutrition education across all four years of its NextGenMD curriculum, positioning it as a core clinical competency for future physicians.
“Nutrition shapes risk, treatment response and recovery across nearly every condition we see in medicine,” said Tracy Crane, Ph.D., co-leader of the Cancer Control Research Program and director of lifestyle medicine, prevention and digital health at Sylvester and associate professor in the Division of Medical Oncology and the Brigitte Burke Endowed Chair for Women’s Cancer Research at the Miller School. “Embedding nutrition science into medical training ensures physicians are prepared to translate evidence into meaningful, everyday clinical care.”
Dr. Crane will be the new longitudinal topic director for nutrition in the curriculum.
Why Nutrition Education Is Essential in Medical School
The initiative grew out of a growing recognition that diet‑related chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease account for a substantial share of preventable illness and death in the United States. Yet national studies have repeatedly shown that many physicians feel underprepared to counsel patients on nutrition or lifestyle change.
“Diet and nutrition represent one of the strongest drivers of the cardiometabolic diseases that deeply affect our society and health care system,” said medical student Akash Patel, a member of the Miller School’s Class of 2026 who has led the nutrition curriculum integration from the student side. “As one of the key players in improving patient health, physicians have a huge opportunity to address many preventable and reversible diseases with an expanded understanding of the modifiable risk factors that influence our patients.”
At the Miller School, students themselves helped catalyze change. What began as advocacy for stronger nutrition education in 2023 evolved into a 50‑member interdisciplinary nutrition working group made up of students, physicians, dietitians, researchers and educators. Together, they designed a curriculum that aligns with national nutrition competencies while fitting seamlessly into the existing medical school structure.
“This wasn’t about adding more content to an already packed curriculum,” said Gauri Agarwal, M.D., associate professor of clinical medicine and associate dean for curriculum at the Miller School. “It was about rethinking how nutrition fits naturally into clinical reasoning and informs diagnosis, treatment decisions and conversations with patients in real clinical settings.”
How Nutrition Is Integrated Into the NextGenMD Medical Curriculum
The Miller School’s 63.5 hours of nutrition education is intentionally longitudinal, spanning all phases of the NextGenMD program and reinforcing key concepts as students progress from foundational science to clinical practice.
Phase 1: Building the Foundation in Nutrition Science
In the preclinical years, nutrition concepts are embedded directly into existing lectures, including cardiology, gastroenterology and endocrinology. Students learn how dietary patterns influence disease mechanisms while also developing practical counseling strategies they can apply in patient encounters.
To support active learning, students complete nutrition-focused ScholarRx “Bricks” and self-paced modules from the Gaples Institute and the American College of Culinary Medicine. Nutrition questions are also incorporated into small‑group, case‑based sessions, ensuring students practice translating science into patient‑friendly guidance early in their training.
Phase 2: Applying Nutrition Skills in Clinical Training
As students enter clinical clerkships, nutrition moves from theory to practice. Planned Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) will assess students’ ability to take a nutritional status, identify nutrition‑related risk factors and deliver brief, evidence‑based counseling. Standardized patient scenarios reflect common conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity, reinforcing nutrition as part of everyday clinical care.
“We want students to feel as comfortable discussing diet as they are reviewing medications or lab results,” Dr. Agarwal said.
Phase 3: Culinary Medicine and Experiential Nutrition Education
A pilot culinary medicine elective adds an experiential dimension to the curriculum. In hands‑on cooking sessions, students prepare meals aligned with therapeutic dietary patterns while exploring affordability, cultural preferences and flavor. Each session is paired with case‑based discussion and reflection on patient communication and behavior change.
“Diet is one of the most powerful modifiable behaviors we can address in medicine,” Dr. Crane said. “Cooking brings nutrition to life and helps students see the real-world challenges patients face and equips future physicians with practical, evidence-based tools they can share.”
Measuring Impact and Looking Ahead
Student learning is assessed through exams, reflective writing and module completion, with future priorities including food insecurity screening, nutrition‑focused physical exams and food‑label interpretation. Instruction is delivered by a multidisciplinary team of physicians, registered dietitians and culinary educators, modeling the interprofessional collaboration students will encounter in practice.
Ultimately, the goal extends beyond knowledge acquisition.
“The physicians we train will see nutrition as a powerful, evidence‑based tool they can use every day to improve patients’ lives,” Dr. Agarwal said.
Tags: Department of Medical Education, Dr. Gauri Agarwal, Dr. Tracy Crane, medical education, Newsroom, NextGenMD, nutrition