Our Commitment
The Indiana University of Pennsylvania College of Osteopathic Medicine (IUPCOM) is joining the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Advancing Nutrition Education initiative. IUPCOM commits to providing at least 40 hours of required nutrition education, or the competency-based equivalent, throughout its four-year Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine curriculum, beginning with its inaugural class, anticipated in fall 2027.
Nutrition Education Grounded in Rural Health
IUPCOM’s mission is to prepare physicians to serve rural and underserved communities. Nutrition is central to that mission. Our approach will emphasize evidence-based nutrition, disease prevention and management, whole-person osteopathic care, and the practical challenges patients face in obtaining nutritious food and appropriate health services in rural settings.
Anticipated Curricular Approach
Nutrition education is planned as a longitudinal, integrated component of the medical curriculum rather than solely as a stand-alone course. Initial areas identified for integration include self-care and rural health, with additional content anticipated in foundational biomedical sciences, organ-system courses, clinical skills, and supervised clinical learning experiences. Specific instructional hours, learning objectives, and assessment methods will be finalized through IUPCOM’s curriculum development and approval processes.
Potential topics include foundational nutrition knowledge, healthy dietary patterns, personal nutrition and physician self-care, nutrition assessment and diagnosis, and evidence-based nutrition counseling and behavior change. Additional areas will include food insecurity, social determinants of health, food systems, and access to nutritious foods and community resources in rural and underserved populations. Nutrition education will also address the prevention and management of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, and other chronic conditions through dietary and lifestyle interventions. Throughout these topics, students will be encouraged to apply osteopathic principles to nutrition-related patient care, recognizing the importance of individualized, culturally responsive, and practical dietary recommendations that reflect patients’ health needs, food traditions, and lived experiences.
Interprofessional education and collaborative learning will be important components of IUPCOM’s approach to nutrition education. Students will have opportunities to engage with other health professions programs at IUP, including nursing, exercise science, speech-language pathology, nutrition/dietetics, medical imaging, respiratory care, medical laboratory science, and psychology. Experiential learning opportunities will emphasize culinary medicine and Food as Medicine approaches, connecting nutrition knowledge with practical skills in food preparation, healthy dietary choices, and patient education. IUPCOM will also explore partnerships with community organizations and healthcare providers to support nutrition-related learning experiences that address food access, food insecurity, and chronic disease prevention in rural communities. As students move into their clinical years, they will be encouraged to collaborate with registered dietitians and other healthcare professionals to provide comprehensive, patient-centered, and culturally responsive care.
Implementation and Evaluation
IUPCOM anticipates mapping required nutrition instruction and assessments to the HHS Medical Education Nutrition Competency Framework, identifying gaps, coordinating instruction across courses and clinical experiences, and monitoring student achievement of relevant competencies. This process will also consider opportunities to integrate osteopathic principles, cultural responsiveness, experiential learning, and community-based nutrition education throughout the four-year curriculum.
Consistent with IUPCOM’s mission, graduates will be prepared to incorporate nutrition into patient care, disease prevention, health promotion, and community-based practice. Through a combination of foundational science, clinical application, interprofessional collaboration, and experiential learning, IUPCOM seeks to ensure that graduates can effectively address nutrition-related health needs in rural and underserved communities.
Faculty Champions
Sophia M. Johnson, DO
Founding Chair, Department of Specialty Medicine
Diplomate, AOBEM - HPM
College of Osteopathic Medicine
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Smjohnso@iup.edu
Lei Hao, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Allied Health
College of Health Sciences
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
leihao@iup.edu