Chaudhry Zoobia W, Laudenslager Marci, Gudzune Kimberly A, Rajagopal Selvi
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Obes Pillars. 2025 Aug 27;16:100204. doi: 10.1016/j.obpill.2025.100204. eCollection 2025 Dec.
Obesity is a prevalent and complex chronic disease yet physicians' training in obesity care is often inadequate. Fellowship training in obesity medicine is now available at multiple academic medical centers; however, there has been limited description and evaluation of these programs to date. Therefore, this article describes our curriculum development process and fellowship program implementation experience at a U.S. academic medical center.
This was a structured, multi-phase curriculum development study guided by established obesity medicine competencies and certification standards. We used a six-step approach to curriculum development to guide our design with content informed by the Obesity Medicine Education Collaborative competencies, American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM) content outline, and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education - International Obesity Medicine Fellowship program requirements. We utilized several tools of instruction as well as modes of assessing learners. Feedback from fellows and faculty was used to iteratively refine the program over the initial 3 years.
We identified 19 content domains key for obesity medicine. Within each domain, we created instructional components including didactic e-lectures, directed readings, reflective assignments, role play activities, and clinical experiences. We developed evaluation tools to determine trainee progress including knowledge check assessments, mini-clinical evaluation exercises (mini-CEXs), and structured feedback. Early outcomes indicate that trainees achieve competence in obesity care, engage in meaningful scholarly activity, and benefit from professional development opportunities. All graduating fellows have successfully achieved ABOM certification. Feedback has informed fellowship refinements, particularly improvements in rotation timing and duration as well as additional subspecialty elective options.
This obesity medicine fellowship curriculum provides a structured, multidisciplinary program and graduates have achieved competency in obesity care. Obesity medicine fellowship training holds promise in advancing the field through innovative education and leadership development.
肥胖是一种普遍且复杂的慢性疾病，但医生在肥胖症护理方面的培训往往不足。目前，多个学术医疗中心都提供肥胖医学的专科培训；然而，迄今为止，对这些项目的描述和评估有限。因此，本文介绍了我们在美国一家学术医疗中心的课程开发过程和专科培训项目实施经验。
这是一项结构化的多阶段课程开发研究，以既定的肥胖医学能力和认证标准为指导。我们采用六步法进行课程开发，以指导设计，其内容参考了肥胖医学教育协作能力、美国肥胖医学委员会（ABOM）的内容大纲以及毕业后医学教育认证委员会 - 国际肥胖医学专科培训项目要求。我们使用了多种教学工具以及评估学习者的方式。在最初的3年里，通过研究员和教员的反馈对该项目进行反复完善。
我们确定了19个肥胖医学的关键内容领域。在每个领域内，我们创建了教学组件，包括教学电子讲座、指定阅读材料、反思作业、角色扮演活动和临床经验。我们开发了评估工具来确定学员的进展情况，包括知识检查评估、迷你临床评估练习（mini-CEX）和结构化反馈。早期结果表明，学员在肥胖症护理方面达到了能力要求，参与了有意义的学术活动，并从专业发展机会中受益。所有毕业的研究员都成功获得了ABOM认证。反馈为专科培训的改进提供了依据，特别是在轮转时间和时长的调整以及增加亚专科选修选项方面。
这个肥胖医学专科培训课程提供了一个结构化的多学科项目，毕业生在肥胖症护理方面达到了能力要求。肥胖医学专科培训有望通过创新教育和领导力发展推动该领域的进步。
