More than 50 American medical schools are committing to the Trump administration’s request to increase the amount and quality of nutrition education training doctors receive before graduating.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced Thursday morning that 53 medical schools across the country have voluntarily pledged to update their nutrition education curricula for training physicians.
The event marks the culmination of the initiative launched last summer by Kennedy and McMahon to improve nutrition education for physicians and to require it as part of training to treat and prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cancer, and heart disease.
“Chronic disease is bankrupting our health system, and poor nutrition sits at the center of that crisis,” Kennedy said in a press release ahead of the event. “Today medical schools are committing to change how America trains its doctors — by putting nutrition back where it belongs: at the heart of patient care.”
Several prominent medical school programs, including Tufts University, the University of California, Irvine, and New York University, are among those listed on a new HHS website about the initiative.
Starting in the fall 2026 semester, medical students at participating schools will be required to complete at least 40 hours of nutrition education training or engage in a 40-hour competency equivalent.
Kennedy and McMahon said the new initiative stemmed from several months of dialogue with accrediting bodies and medical schools about developing a mutually agreeable approach to improving nutrition education for physicians in training.
During her speech at the event, McMahon said her department will always “respect the independence of medical schools and accrediting bodies.
“The Department of Education will never mandate curriculum,” McMahon said. “That’s not our job, but we can and will spotlight promising evidence based models, convene leaders who are improving health outcomes, and celebrate institution driven curriculum reforms.”
Last fall, the Association of American Medical Colleges, representing more than 160 medical schools, joined the Trump administration in calling on educators to evaluate their current educational practices and to integrate more opportunities to study nutrition into their curricula.
The AAMC’s 2025 data snapshot on medical education found that only 82% of medical schools require nutrition classes. Only 17% of schools that participated in the survey reported that nutrition education was fully integrated across all years or phases of their curriculum.
AAMC president Dr. David Skorton said at the event that the new initiative will “ensure nutrition remains an ever-evolving core part of how we train the next generation of physicians.
“Educators and leaders, institutions are finding thoughtful, tailored ways to expand nutrition education approaches that will work best for their learners, for the faculty and, most importantly, for the communities they serve,” Skorton said.
The schools are committed to conducting a comprehensive curriculum review to assess the status of their nutrition education curricula, as well as appoint a faculty member to oversee the advancement of nutrition education.
For schools unable to implement 40 hours of nutrition education into their curricula, HHS developed 71 core nutrition competencies to assess students’ knowledge based on AMA standards.
Foundational competencies in nutrition science include the micronutrient content of foods, nutrient-deficiency diseases, and the formation of healthy dietary patterns for patients with chronic diseases.
Kennedy described these core competencies as “one resource, among many and a non-exhaustive list.”
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Officials said the administration’s ultimate goal would be to increase the number of nutritional medicine questions on medical board examinations, which are required for physicians to practice in each state.
HHS officials described Thursday’s event as a signal to the medical community that supporters of Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again movement within the Trump administration want to “work together and get things done” in areas of policy agreement.
“Today’s announcement is not the Trump administration dictating medical curricula,” Kennedy said. “Today represents a mutual recognition that HHS and leaders in American medicine can come together to advance shared goals and interests.”
