New Study: Gaples Institute Course Strengthens Nutrition Knowledge and Counseling Confidence Among Harvard Medical School Students

A scalable, ready-to-adopt model for advancing nutrition education in medical training

DEERFIELD, Ill., Feb. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Diet-related chronic disease continues to exert a heavy burden on the U.S. health care system, yet physicians typically receive limited training in nutrition.

A newly published study in The American Journal of Medicine evaluates the nonprofit Gaples Institute's online nutrition course as a scalable approach to building physicians' readiness to deliver evidence-based nutrition guidance. The study arrives at a pivotal moment, with new accreditation proposals and recent federal policy attention heightening the need for impactful nutrition instruction in medical training.

The paper analyzes the reflections from Harvard medical students after completing the required Gaples Institute online nutrition course. The research was conducted in collaboration with investigators at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School.

Developed by the nonprofit Gaples Institute, this highly interactive online course covers the essentials of clinical nutrition. Students move from nutrients and health-promoting foods to evidence-based dietary patterns relevant to patient care. It also deepens understanding of the social and cultural influences on eating and addresses practical barriers such as food access and affordability. Most students complete the course in under three hours—a key feature in an already crowded medical school curriculum.

"Medical educators recognize that nutrition matters, but they're often constrained by time and resources," said Stephen Devries, MD, preventive cardiologist, Executive Director of the Gaples Institute, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. "This paper highlights an online approach that's easily scalable and equips future physicians to integrate nutrition into patient care."

The scalability is already being demonstrated beyond Harvard: the same Gaples Institute course evaluated in the paper is now integrated into required coursework at 12 U.S. and Canadian medical schools.

The study analyzed reflections from all students in the 2024 and 2025 cohorts of Harvard Medical School's Health Sciences & Technology track after they completed the required Gaples Institute online course. All students achieved a score of 80% or greater on each of four knowledge quizzes.

But beyond the acquisition of knowledge, researchers analyzed students' reflections to better understand which elements of the course they found most meaningful.

Using qualitative analysis of student reflections, investigators identified the following consistent themes after students completed the Gaples Institute course:

• Strengthened understanding of key nutrition concepts
• Increased readiness to deliver evidence-based nutrition guidance
• Deeper recognition of how social and structural factors shape dietary choices
• Greater appreciation of the importance of nutrition for self-care

A medical student reflected, "I now feel more comfortable asking patients about their diet and being able to offer concrete thoughts knowing that they are backed by science." 

Article
"Advancing nutrition education: Harvard medical student reflections on a scalable online course," The American Journal of Medicine. DOI: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2025.12.031.

About the Gaples Institute
The Gaples Institute is an educational nonprofit dedicated to advancing evidence-based nutrition and lifestyle education for health professionals and the general public.

Contact: [email protected] 

SOURCE Gaples Institute