Eating Disorders Education for Healthcare Students and Non-Specialist Providers: Identifying and Filling a Critical Training Gap.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This report provides an overview on the relative lack of eating disorders training for healthcare students and providers, the impact of these gaps, and efforts underway to enhance eating disorders education.

RECENT FINDINGS

The training and knowledge gap in eating disorders is well-established for healthcare students and providers across disciplines, and negatively impacts attitudes about eating disorders, timely diagnosis, and referral. There is strong evidence of enthusiasm for more education on this topic. Several educational resources have been developed in the last decade, only some of which have been formally evaluated. Programmatic evaluation studies suggest even limited amounts of enhanced training, including brief, asynchronous, digital resources, can improve knowledge, confidence, and attitudes about eating disorders for trainees and experienced clinicians. More research is needed to assess educational impact on clinician behavior.