The integration of nutrition education in the basic biomedical sciences.

At the Center for Biomedical Education at the City University of New York, nutrition is integrated into the chemistry-biochemistry sequence of a six-year B.S.-M.D. program. Students perform an actual analysis of a sample of their own food, learning a number of basic techniques and concepts. At the same time they carry on experiments with rats on diets similar to those used by some people. Those activities are complemented by a dietary survey on themselves and other college students. The fundamentals of nutrition are taught as part of the biochemistry course, while the interpretation of the nutrition survey will be conducted in the course titled Health, Medicine and Society, in which students become acquainted with health problems in the community they will serve as general practitioners.