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  9. Lifestyle Medicine Track

Internal Medicine Residency - Lifestyle Medicine Track

Lifestyle medicine focuses on addressing and reversing chronic disease with the application of evidence based lifestyle therapeutic approaches in realms of nutrition, physical activity, sleep, stress management, building positive social connections, and avoiding risky substances.

Lifestyle medicine aims to empower individuals to make sustainable lifestyle changes that promote long term health and vitality. This is especially important in today’s fast-paced world where chronic disease like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are on the rise.  The track is designed to equip you with the knowledge, skills, and tools to integrate lifestyle medicine into patient care effectively. This is done utilizing the Lifestyle Medicine Residency Curriculum which was created through the collaborative initiative of Loma Linda University Health and American College of Lifestyle Medicine. The curriculum consists of both educational and practicum components. Its educational component includes 40 hours of interactive virtual didactic material along with 60 hours of application activities designed to be completed over your residency. The practicum component includes 400 lifestyle medicine-related patient encounters, 10 hours of (intensive) therapeutic lifestyle change (ITLC or TLC) program experience and 10 hours of group facilitation experience. Overview of the curriculum can be found at the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

 

By participating in our Lifestyle Medicine Track, you will have the chance to:

  1. Gain a deeper understanding of the evidence based principles of Lifestyle Medicine.
  2. Learn practical strategies for incorporating lifestyle interventions into patient assessments and treatment plans.
  3. Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams to provide comprehensive care that addresses the physical, social, and emotional aspects of health.
  4. Enhance your communication skills to effectively educate and motivate patients to make sustainable lifestyle changes.
  5. Join a community of like-minded residents and faculty who share your passion for promoting health and wellness.

 

The Lifestyle Medicine Track curriculum meets requirements of the ACGME for successful completion and graduation from the Internal Medicine Residency Program. At graduation, residents who have completed all program requirements will receive a certificate acknowledging additional training in Lifestyle Medicine.  Residents will then be qualified to sit for the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine certification exam and following a passing score, be certified as a Lifestyle Medicine Physician.

The  Lifestyle Medicine Track is directed by Lauren Mathos, DO and  Alexandra Johnston, DO. The Lifestyle Medicine track does not have its own NRMP match number. Instead, we select residents each year who express an interest in and commitment to lifestyle medicine. When you are granted an interview, please let the program coordinator know about your interest in this track. Upon matching, interested residents can apply for one of two track positions.