Undergraduate Medical University Module in Nutrition: Connecting health and nutrition to help reducing non-communicable diseases

According to WHO Europe, 80% of heart disease and stroke could be prevented by limiting lifestyle risk factors, including inadequate nutrition. Despite the well-known intrinsic relationship betwee...

NutriModule aims to equip future doctors with nutrition knowledge to improve patients’ eating habits, moving away from instant and automatic medication approaches. To achieve this, we designed a practical course to be delivered in medical schools to engage students with real–life, and concrete examples of how nutrition plays a role in medical treatment and wellbeing. Through the module, students acquired knowledge to assess and recommend suitable nutritional solutions for various conditions, thereby fostering a more holistic and personalised approach to patient care. Improved nutrition knowledge will lead to improved patient outcomes and enable an understanding of the role of specific nutrients to identify appropriate dietary interventions alongside conventional treatments.

The undergraduate course was piloted at the three partner universities: the University of Liege (BE), La Sapienza (IT), and University of Rzeszow (PL) involving 90 students and 19 professors, exceeding the initially planned 12 teachers as more educators were needed due to the variety and the extensive content of the course. The module was taught during the final year of the project: - October-November 2023 at the University of Rzeszow, - March-June 2024 at ULiege, and - May 2024 at La Sapienza. In addition, an Intensive Study Program (ISP), initially scheduled for 22-23 July 2024 in Rzeszow, was delivered remotely due to the CrowdStrike Microsoft system crash on July 19. With 11 learners stranded, and the project end date approaching, rescheduling was unfeasible. Despite this, the virtual ISP allowed students to engage with experts and discuss the role of nutrition in specific pathologies, maintaining the quality of the learning experience. Dissemination activities included a first virtual Multiplier Event (E3) in June 2024, organized by SAFE, with support from La Sapienza University, promoting the NUTRIMODULE results. The event targeted universities interested in implementing the course into their curricula. La Sapienza presented the course content, including the teacher's coursebook, the student's handbook and the platform. A student also shared her experience with the module, highlighting the module's relevance to her professional development. A second virtual multiplier event (E5), organized by SAFE on 3rd July 2024 featured presentations from all partners of the project results discussing the importance of nutrition in medical schools and its link to mental health. Mr. Vito Borelli, Head of Sector of the Erasmus Mundus Programme, was a guest speaker, and students shared their experiences with the undergraduate nutrition module expressing their satisfaction and perceived value. Throughout the project, communication and dissemination activities were implemented by the partners to raise awareness and promote the project’s results using channels, such as social media platforms (X, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook) to ensure audience engagement. Offline communication activities, including conferences and congresses on nutrition, were also important, allowing partners to promote the project and deepen their expertise in the subject.

The NutriModule project produced the following concrete outputs representing a lasting legacy: - PR1: a multilingual teacher’s coursebook that provides comprehensive and practical guidance for delivering the nutrition module. It includes the course’s content and structure, case studies and guiding questions for seminars. The coursebook is divided into four educational sections: Food and Nutrition; Nutrition throughout life; Pathologies and Nutrition; and Obesity. - PR2: a multilingual student handbook that offers both theoretical knowledge and practical tools. It contains suggested readings, a bibliography, guided questions, case studies, exercises, and a glossary. The handbook helps undergraduates to deepen their understanding of nutrition and develop skills to meet patient needs through problem-solving methods and case studies. - PR3: an online platform (www.nnutrimodule.eu) that serves as a gateway to access the teaching and learning resources developed during the project. The platform includes an overview of the module, an introduction to nutrition, a reading list, useful links, case studies, the students' handbook, and the teachers' coursebook. The project was beneficial for both medical students and the delivery partners. 90 undergraduate medical students and 19 professors participated, helping bridge the nutrition education gap in these medical schools with the range of courses offered.