The Wayne State University School of Medicine recently hosted its first mandated plant-based nutrition instruction for 300 first-year medical students. Created in conjunction with the school’s medical student-led plant-based advocacy group, the Plant Based Nutrition Group (PBNG), the month-long curriculum consisted of videos, lectures, and multiple-choice quizzes relating to evidence-based science behind a whole-foods plant-based diet and how to integrate the nutrition knowledge into clinical practice. Students received comprehensive educational materials created by both PBNG and medical group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine detailing the connection between their basic science curriculum and plant-based nutrition. Students also attended a half-day curriculum focusing entirely on plant-based nutrition, which included students participating in panels and a cooking demo, meeting more than 25 patients who have reversed chronic diseases with a whole-foods plant-based diet, sampling plant-based food products, and speaking with chefs who shared their cooking expertise. The students also met healthcare providers who emphasize plant-based nutrition in their practice, including Joel Kahn, MD, Robert Breakey, MD, Caroline Trapp, RN, PhD, Margret Swenor, DO, Mary Roberts, PT, and Lisa McDowell, RD. “Study after study has demonstrated that a plant-based diet is not only healthier, but could even help prevent, treat, and reverse some of the leading causes of pain and suffering in America and across the world,” PBNG president Lakshman (Lucky) Mulpuri told VegNews. “The success of PBNG’s Plant Based Curriculum Enhancement will have national implications for the future of clinical care and medical education. Armed with a more comprehensive understanding of plant-based nutrition, these future physicians will be better prepared to combat the devastating effects of chronic disease that millions of American’s face every year.”
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