A Multi-Institutional Approach to Implementing Obesity Medicine Curricula in Undergraduate Medical Education: Feasibility, Acceptability, and Lessons Learned

Background: Gaps in obesity medicine education remain in undergraduate and graduate medical education. As obesity impacts many chronic diseases, this gap is significant for the overall educational program. Our aim was to develop and evaluate a multi-institutional collaborative approach with content expertise for implementing an obesity medicine curriculum in undergraduate medical education, while addressing documented implementation barriers and documenting lessons learned. Activity: Eight geographically, institutionally diverse U.S. medical schools participated in this study. A three-phase study (planning, implementation, evaluation) from 2023 to 2025 was implemented. Local faculty champions comprehensively evaluated the program using a logic model framework with a mixed methods design. Results: Acceptability was high: 100% of faculty champions agreed the project was worth their time and were satisfied with outcomes. Feasibility was strong, with minimal content displacement and most (87.5%) reporting sustainability. Most champions (87.50%) perceived that student knowledge and preparedness to care for patients with obesity had improved. Key benefits included collaboration, networking, and gap identification; major challenges included limited curricular space, timeline alignment, and faculty/student interest. Lessons learned highlighted stakeholder engagement, faculty development for knowledge and obesity bias, strategic integration, evaluation, and multi-institutional collaboration. Discussion: The lessons learned from this novel approach can support other institutions implementing obesity education in undergraduate medical education curricula.