On March 5, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced commitments of 53 medical schools across 31 states to require 40 hours dedicated to nutrition education; however, this is not as good as it sounds.
As a nutrition student, I do agree that nutrition education should be a part of the curriculum for medical school, but adding more required hours for students might not be the right approach.
We already have a medical professional dedicated specifically to the area of nutrition: registered dietitians.
Unfortunately, dietitians are a highly underutilized profession within the medical space, and this may be because people don’t know they exist.
When I tell someone I am studying dietetics, they often don’t know what I am referring to, or they don’t know what a dietitian is.
In an Ontario study from the National Center for Biotechnology Information published Nov. 16, 2020, it was reported that only 25% of 402 respondents knew the difference between a dietitian and a nutritionist.
Becoming a registered dietitian requires enrolling in an Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics program to complete dietetic coursework and, as of 2024, a master’s degree, according to the EatRightPro FAQ website.
Registered dietitian is a legally protected title, meanwhile, anyone can claim to be a nutritionist.
Unfortunately, it is common for people who need nutrition education to not receive it.
A study published May 15, 2024 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed only 52% of people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes received nutrition education of some kind.
This is just one reason why the new 40-hour requirement is not the victory it seems to be.
During medical school, students are constantly learning about different subjects, such as biochemistry, pharmacology and anatomy, all of which are vital to their education.
Adding 40 hours of nutrition education means this will be taking away 40 hours where they could have been learning something else, something that may save a life.
Nutrition is extremely important, but healthcare is interdependent of every profession, meaning one person cannot do everything.
A doctor only has so much time with one patient before they need to see their next patient and they do not have time to be discussing nutrition education with their patient when registered dietitians can provide the information.
On average, a doctor sees 20 patients per day and works 51 hours per week, according to a 2018 survey from Physicians Foundations.
In an average 15-minute appointment with a doctor, that’s just not enough time to discuss the many different things that contribute to a person’s diet.
Comparatively, another survey of electronic health records found that outpatient dietitians spend an average of 37.8 minutes face-to-face with patients and an additional 28.6 minutes in care coordination, according to a February 2024 article from the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics.
A dietitian is trained in giving the most accurate nutrition information and developing a care plan for someone changing their habits to better suit their health.
A doctor does receive training in nutrition information, but the patient would likely be better off seeing a dietitian.
The problem is, however, there are some difficulties a person can face when it comes to seeing a dietitian.
Usually, a referral is needed to see a dietitian, so a person needs to see their doctor first before being able to receive counseling from a dietitian, and sometimes only certain conditions are covered by insurance, according to a March 5 article from the State Requirements for Nutrition and Dietitian Fields.
Increasing the amount of hours needed for a medical student to receive nutrition education is not necessarily a bad thing, but something like promoting further insurance coverage of dietitian visits may have more of an impact.
It’s very hard to see this as a genuine effort to improve the health of Americans when RFK Jr. cut $500 million in research funding for mRNA vaccines, which may have potential to develop cancer vaccines, according to an Aug. 8, 2025 Harvard Belfer Center article.
As of November 2025, the Trump administration has cut about $3 billion in research funding, which aligns with the trend of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s disdain for real science, according to a Nov. 18, 2025 Science News article.
When the Department of Health and Human Services starts to actually make decisions that actually support the health of Americans, I’ll start to lose my doubts about these campaigns being marketed as a “win” for public health.
Until then, people will unfortunately need to do their own research and talk to real health professionals about health topics, because the government has lost the trust of myself, among many others, about its concern for our well-being.
