Assessing Osteopathic Medical Student Knowledge of Common Vitamin and Mineral Deficiencies

Many essential micronutrients are commonly deficient in the United States population, resulting in widespread negative health outcomes. Recognition of these deficiencies within primary care settings is paramount, and this training should begin in medical school. Osteopathic medical students are a crucial target for additional nutritional training due to the large number of osteopathic physicians practicing in primary care. Establishing the extent of current knowledge among osteopathic medical students is important for determining the need for additional nutrition education within the medical school curriculum. This survey-based study utilized a cross-sectional convenience sample of osteopathic medical students at the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine (ACOM). Respondents (n = 70) included 34 OMS-I (48.6%), 15 OMS-II (21.4%), 10 OMS-III (14.3%), and 11 OMS-IV (15.7%) students. The study had four objectives: (1) to determine prior exposure to nutritional education and confidence in nutritional knowledge, (2) to evaluate knowledge of the specific benefits of vitamins and minerals, (3) to assess the likelihood of students recommending supplemental nutrition to future patients, and (4) to determine student interest in additional nutritional education. Micronutrients assessed included vitamin B12, vitamin D, magnesium, and folate. All statistical tests utilized a significance value of α = 0.05. Seventy of 806 students enrolled at ACOM responded to the survey (response rate, 8.7%). No respondents were excluded. Fifty-five (78.6%) students had been exposed to nutrition education, but only 37 (52.9%) students felt somewhat or very confident in their current nutritional knowledge. All p-values were significant when comparing the knowledge of pre-clinical students to post-clinical students. Analysis of variance and Tukey HSD testing revealed significant results when comparing knowledge of specific micronutrient benefits across all students (p < .0001), particularly when comparing knowledge of vitamin D (55, 78.6%) to vitamin B12 (36, 51.4%; p < .01), magnesium (35, 50.0%; p < .01), and folate (33, 47.1%; p < .01). Overall willingness of students to recommend each micronutrient was very high (64 (91.4%), 67 (95.7%), 63 (90.0%), and 65 (92.9%) for vitamin B12, vitamin D, magnesium, and folate, respectively). Sixty-eight (97.1%) surveyed students indicated interest in learning more about micronutrients in their classes. Many students have had exposure to nutritional coursework, yet few are fully confident in their education. Students demonstrated gains in micronutrient knowledge throughout medical school, but certain micronutrients show superior retention compared with others. Furthermore, students are overwhelmingly interested in recommending these micronutrients to their future patients. Osteopathic students demonstrate a clear need for ongoing education to strengthen recognition of micronutrient deficiencies, with potential for substantial benefits in primary care.