Nutrition education in a family practice residency program.

Although there is increased recognition of the importance of teaching nutrition skills during medical school, there is still a great need for residents to learn applied nutrition. Over the past eight years, a nutrition curriculum has been developed and implemented for the two family practice residency programs at the University of Manitoba. Patient education about nutrition is the resident's responsibility, and the faculty dietitian acts as a consultant. Case-oriented seminars and group teaching experiences give residents the opportunity to further develop their nutrition counselling skills. The dietitian is responsible for evaluating resident performance, according to selected learning objectives.