Putting the Pieces Together: Integrating Lifestyle Medicine with Conventional Medicine

Abstract Background: Lifestyle medicine drives many significant new clinical insights and safe improvements in healthcare, many sought and adopted by the public. Surprisingly, primary care physicians are given few hours of instruction in evidence-based nutrition and lifestyle determinants of health and treatment interventions. Resident training at our institution is addressing this gap.

Abstract Methods: The goal of our educational program is to develop evidence-based integrative/functional/lifestyle medicine curriculum to train family medicine residents in nutritional and lifestyle medicine. WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed) offers the nation’s first family medicine community-based medicine functional medicine (FM) residency track. Integrated into their training, residents evaluate a patient’s nutrition, lifestyle, “exposome” – all environmental influences impacting health - and social determinants of health. WMed FM residents are primary care providers for their patients, assessing all factors as they search for root causes of the presenting concerns. Nutritional data, clinical vignettes and pre-post surveys are used.

Abstract Results: Three cohorts of Family Medicine residents to date have been surveyed pre-post, revealing significant satisfaction with functional medicine clinical training. By their own report it has greatly added to their confidence and effectiveness with patients, clinically and interpersonally. Nutritional assessment is now part of routine care offered by residents, and if warranted, testing for micronutrient deficiencies. A growing database on covariates of patient nutritional status informs both care and training. Detailed clinical vignettes are a valuable tool to teach residents the role of nutrition and lifestyle, and evaluation data on their use will be reported. Academically, new evidence-based curriculum in nutrition and lifestyle medicine was developed for this functional medicine residency training and continues to be added to, from the ever-growing scientific and clinical literature.

Abstract Conclusion: Lifestyle medicine’s rise within conventional medicine is inevitable - science and clinical outcomes support the value of lifestyle and nutritional interventions. Family medicine residents recognize this trend and want to be trained. Innovations such as the functional medicine track are useful solutions and can be scaled up to accommodate need.

Funding: N/A

Conflict of Interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest related to this research