Engaging the Medical Community in the Walking Movement:Reforming Medical EducationEdward Phillips, M.D.Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School Department of Physical Medicine and RehabilitationCo-Founder and Co-Director, Lifestyle Medicine Education Collaborative

Unhealthy behaviors - Outcomes

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• By 2020, two-thirds of all disease worldwide will be the result of lifestyle choices.

• The actual causes of death in the USA – Smoking (18%)– Diet and activity patterns (15%)– Alcohol (4%)

1. Chopra M Bull World Health Organ 2002; 80: 952-8.2. Mokdad AH JAMA 2004 Mar 10;291(10):1238-45.

Lifestyle Medicine

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Evidence based practice of assisting individuals and families to adopt and sustain behaviors that can improve health and quality of life

Lianov L. & Johnson M. JAMA 2010;304(2): 202-203

Why Lifestyle Medicine education?

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Health professionals are uniquely positioned to stem the tide of chronic diseases.

There is an urgent need to create and implement comprehensive LM education for all health professionals, at all levels of training, worldwide.

Polak R. Am J Lifestyle Med 01/2015; DOI:10.1177/1559827615580307

Lifestyle Medicine education – the need

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“Nutrition and physical activity training should be incorporated into all phases ofmedical education—medical schools, residencyprograms, credentialing processes and continuing education requirements.”

Bipartisan Policy Center: Lot's to Lose: How America's Health and Obesity Crisis Threatens Our Economic Future, June 2012

Lifestyle Medicine education continuum

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Polak R. Am J Lifestyle Med 01/2015; DOI:10.1177/1559827615580307

LM - Undergraduate Medical Education

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Status:6% medical school leaders reported having a corecourse or required curriculum that addresses exerciseprescription

27% of medical schools indicated that they providedthe 25 hours of recommended nutrition education, withmost averaging only 19.6 hours

Connaughton AV. Public Health Rep 2001; 116: 22634Kris-Etherton PM. Am J Clin Nutr 2014; 99: 1153S66S

Focus on Undergraduate Medical Education

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Lifestyle medicine (LM) curricula reform in undergraduatemedical education (UME) is a logical, critical,and strategic step to alter the preventive care landscape

Phillips EM. Med Educ Online. 2015 Feb 3;20:26150

What is LMEd?

The Lifestyle Medicine Education Collaborative (LMEd) offers leadership, guidance and resources to advance the adoption and implementation of lifestyle medicine curricula throughout medical education.

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What is LMEd?

Founded in 2013 by Dr. Edward Phillips, Harvard Medical School’s Institute of Lifestyle Medicine, and Dr. Jennifer Trilk, University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville

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Represented Organizations• Ardmore Institute of Health• Association of American Medical Colleges• American College of Lifestyle Medicine• American College of Sports Medicine/ Exercise is Medicine• American College of Preventive Medicine• American Council on Exercise• American Medical Student Association• Bipartisan Policy Center• Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation• LevelSmart• National Board of Medical Examiners• National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity• NextGenU• Western University of Health Sciences - College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific

What is LMEd?

Our VisionLifestyle Medicine will become an integral component of medical school curricula.

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What is LMEd?

Our MissionTo provide an array of evidence-based curricular resources to be adopted throughout medical education for the prevention and treatment of lifestyle-related diseases.

Medical schools will utilize this array of resources to provide core curricula, lifestyle medicine competencies integrated into existing curricula, additional electives, rotations and scholarly concentrations.

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What is LMEd?

Current focus Expanding lifestyle medicine education in U.S. medical schools with an initial concentration on:

• Exercise/physical activity• Nutrition• Behavior change• Self-care

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LMEd Resources

We offer resources and support to faculty, administrators and students interested in introducing or advancing lifestyle medicine curricula at their schools.

• Mentorship• Community building• Curriculum catalog• Meetings/events

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Contact Us

Faculty and administrators are invited to serve as lifestyle medicine liaisons or champions at their institutions.

Interested?Visit www.LifestyleMedicineEducation.org

Our full site is under development but a growing collection of resources is available.

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