Lifestyle Medicine Think Tank Coming Soon

By 2020, the World Health Organization predicts that two-thirds of all worldwide diseases and death will be the result of lifestyle choices such as poor diet, lack of exercise, obesity, tobacco use, and the over consumption of alcohol. Looking at this from a different perspective, by 2020, two-thirds of all worldwide diseases and death could be avoided if people adopted healthier lifestyles.

So what’s the hold up?

Only by changing lifestyle behavior will there be a reduction in chronic disease such as diabetes and hypertension and a reduction in the ever mounting health care costs associated with treating them. Health care providers will play a critical role in behavioral changes, yet before that can happen, medical school curriculums must be transformed to include lifestyle management education and the recognition that exercise is medicine.

It is the vision of the USC School of Medicine Greenville to transform medical education so as to transform future physicians, the health care system and patient outcomes. Which is why we have integrated exercise physiology throughout our curriculum, and are among the first, if not the first, medical school to do so.

However, this is just the beginning of a greater vision: transforming medical education on a global scale.

On September 9 and 10, the USC School of Medicine Greenville, in partnership with the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine at Harvard University, is hosting a two-day think tank on the integration of lifestyle medicine into national medical school curricula. This “first in the nation” event, sponsored by The Macy Foundation, will explore the forward-thinking approach of integrating lifestyle medicine competencies, including exercise as medicine, into the education of every medical student in the country and what that curriculum will look like. The think tank will conclude with an action plan and discussion document for the Bipartisan Policy Center public meeting on Medical Education in Nutrition and Physical Activity in October 2013.

The invitation-only think tank involves participants from the Macy Foundation, USC School of Medicine Greenville, Harvard, National Institutes of Health, AAMC, NextGenU.org, West Virginia University School of Medicine, the USC Arnold School of Public Health, and other distinguished participants.

Please stay tuned for more information on this exciting event. Our goal is for this to be a life – and health – changing event!

Dr. Jennifer Trilk