Nutrition education in the medical school: factors critical to the development of a successful program.

The importance of better nutrition education in the medical school has become more recognized and emphasized in recent years. In an attempt to fulfill increasing needs for teaching programs, unproven approaches have often been used, thereby risking loss of both effectiveness of instruction and student interest. A retrospective evaluation of a decade of teaching experience at the University of Alabama in Birmingham has resulted in a better understanding of what problems may be encountered in the development of a nutrition education program. From this review, two factors appear to be of critical importance to a successful program: relevance of the course material to medical practice and the presence of a strong, positive role model as a physician-nutritionist. Five other factors that need to be considered, but often receive undue priorities, are also discussed.