TUESDAY, June 25, 2019 (HealthDay News) — A set of competencies has been developed for medical education program directors on caring for patients with obesity, and a proposed standard of care has been developed for adults with obesity, according to two reports published online June 24 in Obesity.
Robert F. Kushner, M.D., from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and colleagues developed obesity-focused competencies and benchmarks that can be used by medical education program directors. The researchers described 32 competencies developed across six domains. The core domains include practice-based learning and improvement, patient care and procedural skills, systems-based practice, medical knowledge, interpersonal communication skills, and professionalism. The competencies were developed for learning at multiple stages of education and training and among different disciplines.
In a second report, William H. Dietz, M.D., Ph.D., and Christine Gallagher from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., developed a standard of care for treating adult obesity. The researchers note that the core principles underlying the standard-of-care recommendations include treatment of obesity as a chronic disease; use of evidence-based, pragmatic, and deliverable care; and provision of access to appropriate levels of care for all patients, regardless of their point of entry into the health care system. The importance of shared decision making is emphasized; providers should be aware of and refer to appropriate treatment services.
“Our goal was to develop a practical, tangible, measurable and simple standard of care for the treatment of adult obesity, across care settings and representing practices that positively impact the health of people impacted by obesity,” Dietz said in a statement.
Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required) — Kushner
Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required) — Dietz and Gallagher
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