2000-12-08

NAA Abstract Stanford University School of Medicine Nutrition Project

This proposal describes a project to develop an integrated web-based nutrition curriculum at Stanford University School of Medicine. The project will develop a clinical (years 3 and 4) web-based nutrition course for medical students that will be integrated with practical experiences in the clinical clerkships and linked to a preclinical (years 1 and 2) web-based nutrition course now in the final stages of development.

The overall goal of the nutrition curriculum is for learners to develop a basic understanding of the scientific principles of nutrition, the role of nutrition intervention in patient care, and the role of nutrition in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and other chronic diseases in the general population and in populations with special risk factors. The web-based medical student course will provide the foundation on which to build training experiences for residents in the Stanford residency programs in Medicine and Pediatrics, for physician assistants and family nurse practitioners in the Primary Care Associate Program, and for practicing physicians through the SHINE program (Stanford Health Information Network for Education) and a CME course.

Areas of special focus in the curriculum include counseling techniques to bring about behavioral change, cultural and gender differences in attitude toward the relationship of diet and health, and techniques for accessing and evaluating information resources. The core web-based material will be augmented with links to clips of digitized video and related content in other courses and programs, links to relevant external web sites, and lists of additional learning resources.

Faculty development is planned in conjunction with implementation of the curriculum, and a plan for ongoing program assessment is in place. Project results will inform ongoing research projects in the School of Medicine. A mechanism will be developed to disseminate the web-based content to interested medical schools in the United States and abroad.

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