The Obesity Medicine Education Collaborative (OMEC) identified 32 competencies for health care providers who treat patients with obesity.

 

According the World Health Organization, the number of adults with obesity has been consistently increasing, with 890 million adults being classified as adults with obesity as of 2022.¹ The National Institutes of Health, via its National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), reports that 42.4 percent of adults are classified as adults with obesity.² An Association of American Medical Colleges’ report called for medical education to better prepare “future physicians to provide respectful, effective care for overweight and obese patients and to appropriately participate in overweight/obesity prevention efforts.”³

To address this, inroads are now being made via the development of obesity-focused competencies by the Obesity Medicine Education Collaborative (OMEC).³ OMEC, founded in 2016, is an initiative that includes The Obesity Society, the Obesity Medicine Association and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. Together, these professional organizations are working to improve comprehensive obesity medicine education. Toward this end, six core domains and 32 competencies were identified.

Six Core Domains of Comprehensive Obesity Medicine Education

The six core domains³ OMEC identified are:

1. Practice-Based Learning: Practice-based learning includes competencies such as patient education about obesity, applying empirical evidence in the treatment of obesity, and using information technology like electronic health records, software applications, and related devices that capture biometric information.
2. Patient Care and Procedural Skills: Patient care and procedural skills includes competencies such as evidence-based models of behavior change, applying clinical reasoning skills when ordering and interpreting diagnostic tests (e.g. pursing a differential diagnosis for obesity), and eliciting a comprehensive obesity-focused medical history.
3. Systems-Based Practice: Systems-based practice includes competencies such as advocating for policies that are respectful and free of weight bias, which is likely in response to an “anti-fat bias” in health care and reducing the obesity stigma in health care. This core domain also includes working collaboratively with an interdisciplinary team.
4. Medical Knowledge: Medical knowledge has the most competencies associated with it (n = 13) and includes competencies such as knowledge of obesity epidemiology, knowledge of anthropometric measurements, knowledge of obesity comorbidities, applying knowledge of obesity treatment guidelines, using behavioral interventions, and applying knowledge of pharmacological treatments.
5. Interpersonal Communication Skills: Interpersonal communication skills include competencies such as using appropriate verbal, nonverbal and written communication with patients and other health care team members to recognize the different cultural views related to obesity.
6. Professionalism: Professionalism includes competencies such as demonstrating ethical behavior and displaying compassion and respect toward all patients and families.

 

OMEC is a first-of-its kind obesity-focused competency guideline for undergraduate and graduate medical education. OMEC’s competencies should standardize the evaluation of obesity-related competencies in medical schools, PA programs and nursing programs. The expectation is that health care professionals will be better equipped to offer obesity-based patient education, help prevent obesity and treat their patients with obesity and obesity-related conditions.

Preclinical Obesity Curriculum

The status of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine’s obesity education curriculum was evaluated by introducing a comprehensive first-year obesity curriculum and evaluating the impact of this curriculum on self-reported attitudes and knowledge of obesity in the first-year medical student (MS1) cohort.⁴

All MS1s participated in two, two-hour team-based learning sessions, “Obesity Pathogenesis” and “Obesity Treatment.” Sessions were facilitated by two obesity medicine doctors, a dietician, a professor in nutrition, and one MS2. A standardized patient was also included to give MS1s an opportunity to practice communication skills and motivational interviewing.

MS1s were asked to complete a 37-item survey that assessed attitudes toward and knowledge of obesity (n = 22 attitude items). There were 15 items that focused on knowledge of obesity based on the Medical School Curriculum Benchmark Study.⁵ Responses from the MS1s were collected again at the start of M2. A historical cohort was also used (control group, MS2s who were enrolled in Case Western Reserve University at the same time as MS1s).

Results suggest that 15 of the 27 OMEC competencies that were included were not met while 11 of the 27 OMEC competencies used in this study were partially met. Following the intervention, attitudes toward obesity improved. The most notable attitude shift was that obesity is caused by poor personal choices. Also of note is that the intervention did not change the students’ personal desires to counsel patients with obesity about weight management, though students did agree that it is important to do so.

Regarding knowledge of obesity, results suggest that knowledge increased. Knowledge improved in 14 areas such as medical history, physical exam, behavior change and comorbidities, to name only a few. Compared to the control group (concurrent MS2s), obesity knowledge was significantly higher in 13 categories; the only two areas where knowledge did not increase was the physical exam and body composition.

Overall, the results of this study do suggest that attitudes toward obesity and knowledge of obesity can be improved by a preclinical curriculum based on OMEC. Introducing small changes like this one throughout the curriculum could lead to improved treatment and management of obesity and obesity-related conditions in clinical practice.

Implications for Clinical Practice

Health care professionals who currently treat patients with obesity and obesity-related conditions should consider learning more about OMEC’s competencies and participate in professional development when possible. Although OMEC is intended for medical students, PA students and nursing students, practicing clinicians could use OMEC’s guidelines to shore up their skills and knowledge. As suggested in the OMEC’s competencies, health care providers should include “evidence-based models of behavior change” in their treatment of patients with obesity.

A key factor in achieving lasting weight management and fostering patient behavior change is the establishment of clear parameters and daily goals. Health care providers play a critical role in this process by collaborating with patients to develop realistic, actionable, and sustainable behavior change plans. Incorporating behavior education into a comprehensive obesity treatment program — for example, one that includes a structured Low Calorie Diet (LCD) or Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) from Robard Corporation — can offer significant benefits for both providers and patients. Robard programs provide evidence-based patient education protocols, including modules on behavior, nutrition, and exercise, all designed to support long-term patient success.

 

Source(s):

1 World Health Organization: Obesity and overweight
2 National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease: Overweight and obesity statistics
3 Development of Obesity Competencies for Medical Education: A report from the Obesity Medicine Education Collaborative
4 Preclinical obesity curriculum: Audit, implementation, and evaluation
5 Low priority of obesity education leads to lack of medical students’ preparedness to effectively treat patients with obesity: Results from the U.S. medical school obesity education curriculum benchmark study

 

About the Author: Dr. Dawn M. Sweet has over 20 years of experience in the field of communication. Dr. Sweet has given several invited talks to and workshops for academic and private sector audiences on the role of nonverbal and verbal communication in achieving positive outcomes and mitigating bias. Her research has been published in several top ranked peer-review journals, and it has been featured on NPR’s River to River / All Things Considered, Buzzfeed, and Science Daily. Her research has also been used to inform expert testimony.

About Robard: Robard Corporation’s medical obesity treatment programs and scientifically-designed nutrition products are utilized by physicians, surgeons and hospitals across the United States to successfully treat patients living with obesity. To learn more about us and how we can help your practice and patients, visit us online at www.Robard.com, email us at info@robard.com, or call (800) 222-9201.