Nutrition Curriculum
At the Foster School of Medicine, nutrition content is integrated into the basic science and clinical curriculum across the four years of undergraduate medical education. Over 40 hours of training is required with multiple elective offerings in the 4th year.
Topics in the pre-clerkship phase include the biochemistry of iron and hemoglobin, inborn errors of metabolism, the physiology of the pancreas, and the effect of nutrition on healing. Instructional methods vary from lectures to team-based learning sessions and case-based discussions. Students learn to assess the nutritional needs of a patient and counsel patients regarding nutritional risk factors as they study the pathology that results from vitamin deficiencies and poor nutrition.
In the clerkship phase, students bring their knowledge to the bedside and delve further into nutritional counselling for prevention, health maintenance and management of diseases. New electives in obesity medicine and lifestyle medicine have been added in academic year 2026-27.
We understand the important relationship between nutrition and health, and all medical students at the Foster School of Medicine are immersed in this curriculum. Our projected enrollment for 2026 is 533 students.