More than 50 American medical schools are committing to the Trump administration’s request to increase the amount and quality of nutrition education training doctors receive before graduating.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Education Secretary Linda McMahon will announce on Thursday morning that 52 medical schools have voluntarily pledged to update their nutrition education curricula for training physicians.
The event marks the culmination of the initiative launched last summer by Kennedy and McMahon to improve nutrition education for physicians and to require it as part of training to treat and prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cancer, and heart disease.
“Chronic disease is bankrupting our health system, and poor nutrition sits at the center of that crisis,” Kennedy said in a press release. “Today medical schools are committing to change how America trains its doctors — by putting nutrition back where it belongs: at the heart of patient care.”
Several prominent medical school programs include Tufts University, University of California, Irvine, and New York University, among others.
Starting in the fall 2026 semester, medical students at participating schools will be required to complete at least 40 hours of nutrition education training or engage in a 40-hour competency equivalent.
Last fall, the Association of American Medical Colleges, representing more than 160 medical schools, joined the Trump administration in calling on educators to evaluate their current educational practices and to integrate more opportunities to study nutrition into their curricula.
The AAMC’s 2025 data snapshot on medical education found that only 82% of medical schools require nutrition classes. Only 17% of schools that participated in the survey reported that nutrition education was fully integrated across all years or phases of their curriculum.
Senior HHS officials told the press ahead of the event that the AAMC, as well as the American Medical Association, will be in attendance to celebrate the 52 schools that have committed to revitalize their nutrition curricula for physician training.
The schools are committed to conducting a comprehensive curriculum review to assess the status of their nutrition education curricula, as well as appoint a faculty member to oversee the advancement of nutrition education.
Schools partnering with the administration will also be posting a public-facing landing page about their new and existing nutrition curriculum offerings.
For schools unable to implement 40 hours of nutrition education into their curriculum, HHS developed 71 core nutrition competencies to assess students’ knowledge based on AMA standards.
Foundational competencies in nutrition science include the micronutrient content of foods, nutrient-deficiency diseases, and the formation of healthy dietary patterns for patients with chronic diseases.
McMahon said in a statement that the new announcement “demonstrates that medical schools can put nutrition and prevention front and center as they train tomorrow’s doctors and healthcare leaders.”
“To make America great again, we must make it healthy — and today’s commitment by leading universities is a critical step down that road,” McMahon said.
An official told the press ahead of the event that the AAMC, AMA, and medical schools “deserve credit for embracing this conversation in good faith.”
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Officials said the administration’s ultimate goal would be to increase the number of nutritional medicine questions on medical board examinations, which are required for physicians to practice in each state.
HHS officials described Thursday’s event as a signal to the medical community that supporters of Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again movement within the Trump administration want to “work together and get things done” in areas of policy agreement.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
