NUTRITION KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES OF PHYSICIANS IN A FAMILY-PRACTICE RESIDENCY PROGRAM - THE EFFECT OF AN EDUCATION-PROGRAM PROVIDED BY A PHYSICIAN NUTRITION SPECIALIST
K. Lazarus et al., NUTRITION KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES OF PHYSICIANS IN A FAMILY-PRACTICE RESIDENCY PROGRAM - THE EFFECT OF AN EDUCATION-PROGRAM PROVIDED BY A PHYSICIAN NUTRITION SPECIALIST, The American journal of clinical nutrition, 58(3), 1993, pp. 319-325
The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a nutrition-
education program provided by a physician nutrition specialist in a fa
mily-practice residency program on residents' and faculty members' nut
rition knowledge and nutrition-related patient care, their patients' p
erceptions of the importance of nutrition, and the physicians' dietary
patterns. The nutrition specialist provided recommendations for nutri
tion patient-care practices to the physicians for 6 mo. Pre- and post-
intervention assessments included 1) nutrition exams for physicians an
d patients, 2) patient questionnaires concerning attitudes towards nut
rition, 3) chart reviews, and 4) diet records for physicians. The educ
ational intervention caused a small but statistically significant (P <
0.01) increase in physicians' nutrition-knowledge scores and a signif
icantly higher (P < 0.05) frequency of physicians discussing nutrition
and recommending diets for their patients. Effects were greater among
residents than among faculty members. The results suggest that a phys
ician nutrition specialist can provide effective nutrition education w
ithin a residency program.