Kansas City University (KCU) has received a $75,000 award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for its innovative approach to integrating nutrition education throughout medical school. KCU was one of 15 medical schools nationwide recognized in the Integration of Nutrition Training into Health Care Education Challenge, an initiative led by the NIH Office of Nutrition Research and aligned with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medical Education Nutrition Competency Framework.
The challenge was open to medical schools, medical residency programs and nursing programs, with submissions evaluated in two tracks: Developing and Exemplar. The Developing Track received 89 of the 110 total submissions, with seven medical schools selected for awards, including KCU.
The four-year nutrition education effort at KCU takes a longitudinal approach, integrating nutrition science, disease prevention, nutrition counseling and food-as-medicine concepts into medical education through coursework, simulation and clinical experiences. The award-winning curriculum, a collaboration between the College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) and the Center for Population Health and Equity (CPHE), serves approximately 430 medical students per class across KCU campuses in Kansas City and Joplin, Missouri. The curriculum also draws on expertise from health care, public health and nutrition professionals, with several opportunities for community organizations to contribute knowledge of food access, nutrition education and health promotion.
“We are preparing future physicians to look beyond individual symptoms and consider the role nutrition, lifestyle and access to healthy food play in overall health,” said W. Joshua Cox, DO, senior vice president of Clinical Affairs and executive dean of KCU-COM. “This reflects the osteopathic approach to caring for the whole person and recognizing how different aspects of health are connected. We want our students to feel confident bringing these conversations into patient care.”
Through the established Score 1 for Health program, second-year osteopathic medical students incorporate nutrition conversations into pediatric health screenings, practicing age-appropriate communication. They encourage elementary students to “eat the rainbow” by choosing a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables and to make water their drink of choice.
As KCU continues to develop its nutrition curriculum, a required first-year poverty simulation will help students understand how food insecurity, transportation barriers and financial limitations can influence health and access to nutritious food.
KCU is also developing a culinary medicine pilot that will explore how to introduce teaching kitchen experiences, meal planning, food access education and practical food preparation into medical education.
“Nutrition is not just an individual health issue; it also is shaped by the environments and resources available to people and families,” said Catherine Satterwhite, executive director of the CPHE at KCU. “By incorporating these perspectives into medical education, we are helping future physicians recognize how factors such as food access and economic stability influence health and shape the care patients need.”
Looking ahead, KCU plans to expand specialty-specific nutrition instruction across core clerkships, helping students apply nutrition principles in a variety of clinical settings. The University aims to build a sustainable model that strengthens nutrition education throughout medical training and informs approaches at other medical institutions.
About Kansas City University
Kansas City University, founded in 1916, is a fully accredited, private not-for-profit health sciences university with Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, Biosciences and a developing College of Dental Medicine. The College of Osteopathic Medicine is the eighth largest medical school in the U.S., the ninth most impactful medical school for primary care for the nation, the tenth most affordable of private medical colleges, and the leading producer of physicians for the State of Missouri. The College of Osteopathic Medicine has two sites strategically located on the University’s campuses in Kansas City and Joplin, Missouri, to address the growing needs of both urban and rural populations. The University offers multiple graduate degrees; a doctor of osteopathic medicine; a doctor of psychology in clinical psychology; a master of arts in bioethics; a master of science in the biomedical sciences; a master of business administration in partnership with Rockhurst University; a new master of public health in partnership with the University of Nebraska Medical Center; and plans to seat the first doctor of dental medicine students in 2023.
Reference:
Haley Reardon, Manager of Marketing and Communications
Kansas City University
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