Teaching Doctors About Nutrition and Diet
Each and every time someone posed such a query, I became immediately cognizant of one thing: the big blank space in my brain. After all, even with
however medical school acceptance in hand, I was no more a doctor than they were.
But I also soon realized that many of their questions had nothing to do with medications or operations, or even diseases. With all the newspaper and television reports about newly discovered carcinogens and the latest diets and miracle nutrients, what my friends and acquaintances really wanted to know was just what they should or should not eat.
Years later, as a newly minted doctor on the wards seeing real patients, I found myself inthe same position. I was still getting a lot of questions about food and diet. And I was still hesitating when answering. I wasn’t sure I knew that much more after medical school than I did before.
One day I mentioned this uncomfortable situation to another young doctor. “Just consult the dietitians if you have a problem,” she said after listening to my confession. “They’ll take care of it.” She paused for a moment, looked suspiciously around the nursing station, then leaned over and
however whispered, “I know we’re supposed to know about nutrition and diet, but none of us really does.”
