The Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM) is one of a group of national medical schools to receive the Nutrition Academic Award (NHLBI Grant #1K07HL03953-01) which is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. The overall goals of the Nutrition Academic Award (NAA) Project at AECOM are to:
 | Enable medical professionals to acquire knowledge and skills to provide their patients and their community with health-related nutrition information. |
| Impart skills which may change patient behavior and practices to reduce disease risk. |
| Teach medical students and graduate students to evaluate scientific evidence on the relationship of nutrition to health and specific diseases. |
| Provide students the motivation and impetus to engage in nutrition research. |
The NAA Project is developing a comprehensive, vertically integrated nutrition curriculum in which learning objectives sequentially build from one course to subsequent courses. Our specific goals are to:
1. Develop and revise course learning objectives to address identified areas of need. Nutrition Workgroups of the Preclinical and Clinical Curriculum Committees are collaborating with course leaders to develop learning objectives based on our needs assessment and national nutrition curriculum recommendations.
2. Implement nutrition curriculum revisions for preclerkship years. The revisions include integrating nutrition into existing courses by refining teaching modules and including relevant nutrition content into courses where it is not currently being addressed. We are also adding MD-RD teaching workshops and computer-based activities.
3. Integrate nutrition into the clinical teaching program. Our model includes an in-service curriculum for clerkship preceptors and residents as well as computer resources accessible through the Einstein Web page to facilitate continuity in instructional goals.
4. Evaluate how curriculum changes affect nutrition knowledge, skills, attitudes and practices/behaviors. We are:
| Surveying students and faculty to assess the impact of the nutrition curriculum changes. |
| Examining students' nutrition assessment and intervention skills using simulated patients. |
| Tracking nutrition activities in courses and clinical rotations throughout the curriculum via each student's computer portfolio. The computerized portfolio for nutrition will provide insights regarding how well each student accomplished the learning objectives, and the extent to which students used the computer resources on clinical rotations, and determine how the students' dietary behaviors relate to their knowledge, skills, attitudes and practices/ behaviors. |
5. Collaborate intramurally and extramurally regarding the relevant aspects of this program. Collaborations will be with the National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, other medical schools and relevant agencies as well as with Einstein-affiliated hospitals and clinics.
6. Disseminate findings and materials. We will disseminate findings through peer-reviewed publications and presentations. We will also disseminate intervention materials (our curriculum guide, curriculum development methods, and educational modules) via print and computer venues.