Perspectives on a Lifestyle Medicine Fellowship Curriculum From Interested Medical Students

Abstract

Background. Lifestyle behaviors have a significant effect on preventing and treating disease, yet there is minimal graduate medical training in lifestyle medicine (LM). LM stakeholders’ perspectives regarding components of a LM fellowship have been examined. However, the student perspective has not been studied. Methods. A cross-sectional study design analyzed medical student perceptions surrounding LM domains and educational experiences. A Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance and a Wilcoxon Rank-Sum Test were performed for each topic. Results. In all, 21 medical students completed the survey. All domains (nutrition, physical activity, behavior change, stress resiliency, and personal health), except smoking cessation, were rated as important or very important by at least 75% of the respondents (P = .002). The 4 highest-rated educational experiences, by at least 69% of respondents, included developing LM interventions and health promotion programs, clinical experiences, and teaching other health care providers about LM. Significant differences overall were found among the educational experiences (P = .005), with research and fund raising considered the least important. Conclusions. Medical students felt strongly about including nutrition, physical activity, behavior change, personal health, and stress resiliency as part of a LM fellowship curriculum. There was significantly less interest in smoking cessation. Desired experiences of students focused on delivery of LM.