Medical Professionals Need Better Training in Nutrition

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, food is medicine, and our medical professionals need proper training to screen and treat food insecurity and diet-related diseases.

That is why I have joined together with Representative Vern Buchanan on a bipartisan letter to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, urging them to incorporate nutrition education into the program requirements for graduate medical education. By doing so, graduate medical programs will be required to adequately prepare physicians in nutrition, improving health outcomes, and saving our healthcare system a lot of money.

Mr. Speaker, the idea that our medical professionals should have better training in nutrition isn't a concept we just came up with here in Washington.

When I visit medical students, physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals back home, I hear over and over again how they don't feel adequately prepared to treat food insecurity and diet-related diseases.

I am proud to further a key recommendation in the National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, and ask all my colleagues to support efforts to improve nutrition education for physicians.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source