Impact Of The Exercise Is Medicine Initiative Education On Residents To Prescribe Exercise To Patients

Physicians have an important role in encouraging patients to increase their physical activity to reduce their risk of developing heart disease and other diseases. Early education about the “Exercise is Medicine” (EIM) initiative would provide long-term benefits throughout physicians’ careers. PURPOSE: To evaluate the impact of the EIM initiative education from the American College of Sports Medicine on residents’ confidence level and likelihood to prescribe exercise to patients. METHODS: An EIM educational session about the importance of exercise in patient care was conducted to teach residents in emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, psychiatry, and transitional year programs. A cross-sectional study evaluated improvement in residents’ confidence level and likelihood to prescribe exercise to patients. The changes from baseline to post-education were analyzed using Wilcoxon’s signed rank test. RESULTS: A total of 55 residents participated in the study. Thirteen (24%) are emergency medicine, 11 (20%) are family medicine, 21 (38%) are internal medicine, 2 (4%) are psychiatry, and 8 (15%) are transitional year residents. Forty-four residents (80%) were not familiar with the EIM initiative. The residents across all programs reported that the EIM education significantly improved their confidence to prescribe exercise (p = 0.0002). There was a significant increase in the likelihood of prescribing exercise (p < 0.0001). Internal medicine residents reported significantly improved confidence levels (p = 0.0339) and likelihood to prescribe exercise (p = 0.0023). After learning about EIM, 45 residents (85%) reported to be more likely to participate in moderate to vigorous activity. All residents agreed that exercise physiology and assessment should be taught in medical school. CONCLUSION: Educating the residents on the EIM initiatives significantly enhances their confidence level and increases their likelihood of prescribing exercise as medicine to their patients.