National Dairy Council Award for Excellence in Medical and Dental Nutrition Education Lecture, 1994: nutrition education in medical schools--the prospect before us.

The criteria usually used for evaluating the state of nutrition education in our medical schools include the numbers of schools with required nutrition courses, attendance at nutrition electives, student satisfaction with their nutrition teaching, and the number of postgraduate clinical nutrition programs. These criteria indicate either no change or actual decreases over the years. More important, barriers persist that exclude essential nutrition education for all students in the clinical years. This pessimistic evaluation is tempered by events that, if properly addressed, may lead to improvement. Changes in the traditional medical curriculum are occurring in an increasing number of schools. More curriculum planning, execution, and oversight by interdepartmental faculty (problem-based and small-group learning); a greater emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention; and expansion of primary care offer the potential for more emphasis on nutrition education. This will not happen automatically but requires a vigorous effort by the Society and its members to become involved in the reform movement.