ABOM Diplomate Kimberly Kilby, MD, MPH  is the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education at Albany Medical College in Albany, NY, where she oversees the clinical portions of the medical school curriculum. She also serves as a Nutrition Expert faculty advisor to The Palate, a new peer-reviewed online publication for medical students at the intersection of nutrition and public health. In this role she mentors the editorial team by developing new content, making interdisciplinary connections with other institutions and other organizations, and providing expertise in nutrition and public health during the peer-review process. Below Dr. Kilby answers questions about The Palate and the role it is hoping to serve within the obesity medicine community.

What is The Palate?   

The Palate is a platform created by volunteer medical students designed to bring nutrition education to the forefront of undergraduate medical education. In order to connect the medical student community, we plan to highlight medical-student led nutrition initiatives, interview leading public health and nutrition experts, provide forums to discuss the most recent clinical findings, and create a space for students to share their personal experiences with nutrition and public health.

The mission of The Palate is to create a platform where medical students can learn, engage, and collaborate with one another to understand the interactions between nutrition, public health, and long-term health.

The Palate seeks to:

1. Establish a unified medical student voice in the field of nutrition and public health;
2. Shape the conversation on nutrition, our food environment, and the public health;
3. Provide tools for medical students to become lifelong active consumers of the leading nutrition and public health research.

 
Why was The Palate created? What need does it serve?

Our response to the obesity epidemic is to develop a space for collaboration between undergraduate medical students. By creating connections between a large number of medical students, the information and connections they develop will rapidly spread between institutions, accelerating the speed of collaboration.

It is true that clinical nutrition is a part of undergraduate medical education; however it varies from institution to institution. Some have complex nutrition and public health curriculum, complete with teaching kitchens, while others have a few lecture hours dedicated to micronutrient metabolism.

Beyond education, the background that we bring as students when approaching nutrition is varied and valuable. Some have experiences studying or researching nutrition. Others have worked on community projects, governmental policy, or with nonprofits. And many have personally experienced the effect of nutrition on health.

This diversity in education and experience creates an immense opportunity to combine our knowledge and best practices as the field of clinical nutrition continues to grow. As we sought to find a platform for medical students to connect and learn, we realized that none existed. The Palate seeks to fill this void. As we begin to think about our future practice, we hope to unite medical students in an effort to open the conversation and work towards changing the way we view nutrition as part of patient care.

How is the content created and is there a way for obesity medicine physicians to get involved?

The content for this publication is created by medical students, graduate students, and any other individuals with a focus in nutrition and public health. There are no requirements to be a contributor for this publication except for the expectation that all content be geared towards medical education and the medical community. One of the goals of the publication is to create a diverse community with broad-reaching impact across fields. The Palate encourages contributions from all fields of medicine, public health, and science.

ABOM diplomates can provide mentorship to the volunteer medical student editorial board. The editorial board is actively working to create connections with institutions and obesity organizations across the country. ABOM diplomates interested in the future of medical education can join our team to work with students to direct the future of this publication and build our growing online community.