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Nutrition Curriculum

Nutrition in Medicine: A Four-Year Integrated Curriculum

The Whiddon College of Medicine equips future physicians to combat chronic disease through a comprehensive nutrition curriculum. By integrating foundational science with hands-on clinical application, we ensure our graduates are prepared to address the unique health challenges of the Gulf Coast region.

The Whiddon Advantage: Culinary Medicine

A cornerstone of our program is hands-on culinary medicine training. In our dedicated teaching kitchen, students bridge the gap between biochemistry and the dinner table, learning to translate complex nutritional science into practical, patient-centered meal planning.

Curriculum at a Glance

  • Pre-Clerkship: Building the Foundation
    • Science: Mastery of metabolic mechanisms, energy balance, and the pathophysiology of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
    • Skills: Hands-on training in nutritional assessment, growth evaluation, and motivational interviewing.
    • Experiential: Early immersion in culinary medicine to practice evidence-based healthy meal preparation.
  • Clerkship: Clinical Application
    • Inpatient & Outpatient: Managing diet-related conditions across specialties, including Pediatrics, OB/GYN, and Surgery.
    • Management: Integrating lifestyle modification with pharmacologic and surgical interventions.
    • Specialized Care: Assessing perioperative nutrition, enteral/parenteral needs, and bariatric patient management.
  • Electives: Advanced Lifestyle Medicine
    • Fourth-year students can dive deeper into Lifestyle Medicine, critically appraising literature on the gut microbiome, inflammation, and specialized dietary patterns (DASH, Mediterranean, Ketogenic).

Our Goal: To produce physicians who have the clinical reasoning, communication skills, and confidence to improve long-term health outcomes in the communities they serve.