Nutrition
Nutrition is a cornerstone of disease prevention, treatment, and long-term health. As nutrition-related conditions continue to drive healthcare utilization and costs, physicians must be prepared to integrate evidence-based nutrition principles into clinical decision-making. A comprehensive nutrition curriculum within the MD program ensures that Floyd School of Medicine graduates will be equipped to care for South Carolinians with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and hypertension using every tool available to them.
Throughout their medical education, students develop knowledge and clinical skills to assess nutritional status, identify nutrition-related risk factors, and incorporate nutrition into patient care. Instruction is integrated into both foundational science courses and clinical training. Through case-based learning, clinical experiences, and population health perspectives, students gain an appreciation for the biological, behavioral, cultural, and social factors that influence nutrition and health outcomes. This approach reinforces the connections among metabolism, physiology, pharmacology, and disease processes while emphasizing practical application in patient care.
The Floyd School of Medicine has a strong history of including nutrition in its curriculum, including offering a hands-on Culinary Medicine elective since 2020. By graduating physicians who are confident in applying nutrition science in clinical practice, the Floyd School of Medicine advances its mission to improve the health of South Carolina’s individuals and communities through excellence in education, patient care, research, and service.
Curriculum
Click on each year of the MD program below to see how nutrition topics are incorporated into medical education.
| Topics |
|---|
| Mechanisms of food digestion and absorption |
| Hormonal regulation through food composition |
| Fundamental principles of nutrition and metabolism |
| Food insecurity |
| Interpret nutrition labels and menu labeling |
| Nutrient and energy requirements across the lifespan |
| Functions of essential nutrients |
| Principles of healthy, balanced diet per national guidelines |
| Structural components from food (proteins, membranes, hormones) |
| Epigenetic modulation through nutrition |
| Mitochondrial metabolism and nutrient-driven ATP synthesis |
| Using behavioral change models for counseling |
Approximately 25 hours instruction
| Topics |
|---|
| Pathophysiology of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and hypertension |
| Vitamin deficiencies |
| Drug-nutrient interactions |
| Functions of essential nutrients |
| Over-nutrition and insulin resistance |
| Micronutrient cofactors in enzymatic function and deficiency impact |
| Cognitive and behavioral nutrition; mindful eating |
Approximately 20 hours instruction
| Topics |
|---|
| Asses a patient’s diet and food intake |
| Identify factors affecting a patient's health status |
| Identify community-based nutrition resources for patients experiencing food and nutrition insecurity |
| Demonstrate the difference between food allergies and food intolerance |
| Start a sensitive, nonjudgmental conversation about food and lifestyle with a patient |
| Identify factors affecting personal health and nutrition status |
| Screen for food insecurity and make appropriate referrals to those identified at risk |
| Provide evidence-based nutrition and food recommendations to patients for the prevention and treatment of disease |
| Explain the principles of a healthy, balanced diet per national guidelines |
| Provide guidelines for lifelong dietary patterns for chronic disease |
| Interpret biomarkers for malnutrition risk |
| Use motivational interviewing to help patients seeking nutritional change |
| Provide guidance on food journaling |
| Make appropriate nutrition referrals |
| Create culinary nutrition SMART goals with patients |
| Help with personalized meal planning based on clinical data |
Approximately 40 hours instruction
| Topics |
|---|
| Culinary Medicine elective and cooking with community members |
| Advanced clinical electives that incorporate elements of lifestyle medicine |
| Nutrition application in specialty rotations of the student’s choosing |
Hours vary based on student’s choice of electives