Earlier this year I had the honor of chairing an NIH sponsored symposium on the Present and Future of Obesity Medical Education in the United States.
After hearing presentations from leaders across multiple disciplines, we came to the conclusion that the healthcare workforce, spanning physicians, advanced practice professionals, dietitians, and exercise professionals, is not adequately trained to meet the clinical demands of caring for patients who seek treatment for obesity.
Here are 3 important takeaways from the symposium:
1-Current Education is Insufficient
- Medical students feel inadequately prepared to manage patients living with obesity. Furthermore, the licensing examinations to become a doctor do not address the important concepts of obesity as a disease and how to use obesity medications.
- Only 58% of physician residency program directors considered their graduates prepared to manage obesity.
- Although advanced practice professionals (nurse practitioners and physician associates) write a growing share of obesity medication prescriptions, few have received formal training in obesity medicine.
- Registered dietitians, one of the most important members of the obesity care team, devote less than 3% of supervised practice hours during training to obesity.
2-New Initiatives are Underway
- For health professionals seeking further competency, obesity medicine education materials and certification programs are now available for medical students, physicians, advanced practice professionals, registered dietitians, and exercise professionals.
- The American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM) offers certification for physicians who complete additional training in obesity and pass a rigorous certification test. Physicians earn the designation as Diplomats of the ABOM.
- Advanced practice professionals can complete an Obesity Management in Primary Care certificate program through the AAPA (American Academy of Physician Associates).
- Registered dietitians and exercise specialists also offer obesity care certificate programs that are uniquely developed for their specialty
3-More is Needed
- Optimum obesity health care leverages a multidisciplinary team, yet too few health professionals have been educated in obesity medicine.
- As a result, patients with obesity often receive inadequate care or avoid seeing a health professional due to weight stigma and failure to recognize their needs.
- Although advanced educational pathways have been developed for health professionals seeking recognition in obesity care, more needs to be done to increase the number of health professionals trained in obesity medicine, including health psychologists.
Healthcare professionals looking for a structured program for providing obesity-care counseling, can check out my latest book, Patient-Centered Weight Management.
RK
Robert Kushner, MD