PCOM Perspectives: Including Nutrition-Focused Instruction in Medical Education

This episode features a discussion with Virginia Stallings, MD, a board-certified pediatric physician nutrition specialist and director of the Nutrition Center and Jean A. Cortner Endowed Chair in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Stallings is also professor of Pediatrics at CHOP and at The University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, and a member of the PCOM Board of Trustees. In this episode, Dr. Stallings and I discuss her innovative research on cystic fibrosis and its impact on disease-related malnutrition; the relationship between sodium intake and disease prevention and the importance of including nutrition-focused instruction in medical education. Having a clear understanding of the relationship between nutrition and disease is critical to ensuring our communities live longer, healthier lives. Through the work of Dr. Stallings and others, we are gaining better insight and perspective on a topic that affects all of us.