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Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Thursday that his agency, along with the Department of Education, has secured commitments from medical schools representing 31 states to include nutrition as a core component of medical training.
“Together with the Department of Education, Secretary Linda McMahon, I’m pleased to announce the transformative breakthrough in medical education that will reshape the way that we train doctors in our country and deliver on President Trump’s promise to end the chronic disease epidemic in America,” Secretary Kenney said on Thursday during the announcement in D.C.
He continued, “53 medical schools across 31 states are driving the national movement to champion nutrition education, reshape the future of medical training. Beginning this fall, these schools will require every medical student to complete 40 hours of comprehensive nutrition education, or competency equivalent, before graduating.”
While it may seem like including nutritional education in the training of the nation’s doctors is a no-brainer, this integral keystone component has been largely absent from doctors’ medical training for decades.
“More than 30,000 physicians each year will now graduate equipped with nutrition education to help prevent, treat, and reverse chronic disease,” Kennedy said. “This is how we implement the MAHA agenda. This is how we Make America Healthy Again.”
Kennedy said the HHS would invest $5 million to accelerate this nutritional training by working with the National Institutes of Health to support medical schools, dietitian programs, nursing residencies, and more as they integrate this critical nutritional education into their curriculum and coursework.
Kennedy also said that Thursday’s announcement from the HHS did not represent the Trump administration “dictating medical curricula.” He said that, instead, it represented a “mutual recognition that HHS and leaders in American medicine can come together to advance shared goals and interests.”
Education Secretary Linda McMahon also noted in a statement, “Today’s announcement demonstrates that medical schools can put nutrition and prevention front and center as they train tomorrow’s doctors and healthcare leaders. It’s an honor to celebrate the dozens of medical schools stepping up to strengthen nutrition education — an essential but often overlooked aspect of public health.”
