Achieving National Certification for Lifestyle Medicine Curriculum Integration
Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine Achieves National Certification for Lifestyle Medicine Curriculum Integration
Vallejo, CA, October 30, 2024 – Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine (TUCOM) has earned the prestigious Silver Plus certification from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), recognizing its Undergraduate Medical Education (UME) Curriculum for integrating lifestyle medicine into its program. This achievement not only enhances Touro’s strong focus on metabolic health but also serves as an attractive offering to prospective students.
Lifestyle medicine uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions as a primary modality to treat chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Lifestyle medicine-certified clinicians are trained to apply evidence-based, whole-person, prescriptive lifestyle change to treat and, when used intensively, often reverse such conditions. Applying the six pillars of lifestyle medicine—a whole-food, plant-predominant eating pattern, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, positive social connections, and avoidance of risky substances—also provides effective prevention for these conditions.
“This is pioneering work by medical schools which have identified that providing education through a lifestyle medicine lens is critical to equipping the next generation of physicians with the knowledge and skills to provide health restoration and value-based care,” said ACLM President Beth Frates, MD, FACLM, DipABLM. “Medical schools that integrate lifestyle medicine will be highly sought after by students who are passionate about treating the root causes of chronic disease, which are overwhelmingly lifestyle-related. These medical schools are leading edge in this recognition, and medical students are fortunate to receive this training at career start. I congratulate Touro University California on its dedication to the best patient care.”
Through ACLM's curriculum certification process, students graduating from lifestyle medicine-certified medical schools are able to complete a portion of educational prerequisite hours (depending on their medical school's tier of certification) towards becoming certified in lifestyle medicine. ACLM has four primary tiers of educational program certification—Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum—and each tier may include a "Plus" designation which indicates the inclusion of additional in-depth, optional education and mentoring in lifestyle medicine.
“The opportunity for graduates to sit for the national Lifestyle Medicine boards and achieve full board certification is an incredible milestone,” said Dr. Tami Hendriksz, Interim Chief
Academic Officer of Touro University California and Dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine. “Being a leader in this space, especially as the first osteopathic school to earn this certification, is a major accomplishment and a testament to the innovative work we’re doing here.”
About ACLM®
Serving as a transformation catalyst, disruptor of the status quo, and a galvanized force for change, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine is the nation's medical professional society advancing the field of lifestyle medicine as the foundation of a redesigned, value-based and equitable healthcare delivery system, essential to achieving the Quintuple Aim and whole person health. ACLM represents, advocates for, trains, certifies, and equips its members to identify and eradicate the root cause of chronic disease by optimizing modifiable risk factors. ACLM is filling the gaping void of lifestyle medicine—including food as medicine—in medical education, doing so across the entire medical education continuum, while also advancing research, clinical practice and reimbursement strategies. Adding years to lives and life to years, while reining in the alarming, unsustainable trajectory of healthcare spending, is what lifestyle medicine delivers.