Improving Medical Student Access to Nutrition During the Core Surgery Clerkship

Abstract

The rigorous demands of medical education create circumstances that can make it challenging to maintain a healthy diet. Evaluations from students at an urban medical school in the northeast U.S. regarding their surgery clerkship highlighted the difficulty of finding healthy snacks or meals between operations and patient care obligations. In response, we implemented the Nutritional Wellness Initiative, a pilot program designed to offer accessible, healthy snacks to medical students during their surgery clerkship. We conducted a 3-month pilot program at three hospital sites and surveyed participants. Responses were compared to controls who completed their surgery rotation before initiation of the pilot program. Both groups emphasized the importance of having access to food during the workday for student wellness, with less than 50% of students in either group eating lunch daily during the surgery rotation. Of students who participated in the pilot program, 63% used the provided snacks at least once per week. This model offers one approach to improving student access to nutritious snacks during the busy surgery workday. To improve our program going forward, we have engaged the Director of Lifestyle Medicine and Wellness in the Department of Surgery to help optimize nutritional delivery and to create student education resources regarding healthy snacking habits and choices.