Status of nutrition education in Canadian dental and medical schools.

To investigate the present status of nutrition education for dentists and physicians in Canada, we conducted a survey of the nutrition education programs in 10 Canadian dental and 16 medical schools in the academic year 1982-83. Seven of the dental schools and seven of the medical schools had a separate course in nutrition. The average duration of these courses was 22 hours for the dental schools and 26 hours for the medical schools. Nutrition education was integrated with another discipline in 4 of the dental schools and 11 of the medical schools. The average duration of this type of instruction was 14 hours for the dental schools and 18 hours for the medical schools. Six of the dental schools and eight of the medical schools employed a nutritionist/dietitian to provide instruction in nutrition. We recommend that courses in basic and applied clinical nutrition be incorporated throughout the curricula of Canadian dental and medical schools, and that personnel trained in clinical nutrition be employed to provide instruction in this area.