Founded in 2017 by then student doctors Ally Jaffee and Ian Broadley, Nutritank was set up simply to bring together like-minded students at the University of Bristol.
However, because of their passion and support for improving nutrition education in medical schools, Community Interest Company (CIC) has grown into a highly influential and accredited continuing medical education (CME) provider.
“I’ve always had a passion for lifestyle and nutritional interventions and supporting overall health. So when I started my medical training, everything we were learning meant that we were able to improve our ability to treat any disease. I was disappointed that it was about medicine and no mention of lifestyle at all, because I know it can be prevented, chronic diseases can be managed and even reversed,” Jaffee told NutraIngredients. Told.
“So I created a medical nutrition interest group for students, and Ian was one of the first students to join. We realized how systemic this problem was. It not only affected our medical school, but all schools and practices around the world.”
The team first used social media to create a community of like-minded students with chapters at medical schools across the country. The hubs worked together to educate themselves through lectures, events, and activities.
The not-for-profit business reached its first major milestone when BBC Radio 4 invited the co-founders for an interview. Then the BBC published an article titled “We haven’t learned anything about nutrition, insists medical students.” I caught a virus.
Shortly thereafter, they were commissioned by the Nutrition Society to create a Gold Standard Nutrition Curriculum, which was delivered in October 2021 and certified by the General Medical Council.
Around a third of medical schools across the UK have incorporated it into their curriculum, which is a huge feat given the challenges of recruiting appropriate staff, changing protocols, tight curriculum schedules and establishing curriculum change windows. Jaffee explained.
“Previously, the School of Medicine offered only two hours of nutrition training in a 5,000-hour course, so introducing an entire curriculum on this topic is a major milestone,” she said, adding that next steps enters the course, adding that it is to incorporate a nutritional test.
To help medical students and others who don’t have access to this training learn about nutrition for health care, Nutritank offers free live webinars hosted by various experts in the field each week.
Controlling social misinformation
Jaffee recently became an ambassador for Fidesz, a network of medical professionals brought together by the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise the bar on quality nutritional content and combat misinformation on social media.
The initiative began to combat coronavirus misinformation on social media, but in recent years has shifted its focus to general health misinformation.
Nutritank led focus groups of nutritionists, nutritionists, doctors, and other medical professionals to find out what online posts are confusing customers and patients, what information is influencing them, I especially share my experiences with influencers and posts.
“Unfortunately, there are some well-known doctors who are getting a little too commercial and selling products and services that aren’t necessary for the majority of their audience, but they’re trying to convince people that they need these solutions. It makes you think,” Jaffee argued.
“Whether it’s a wearable product or a magical supplement, these concepts are very appealing because they sell ‘sexy’, but they distract people from the important fundamentals of proper nutrition and lifestyle.” There is a possibility. Supplements absolutely have a role to play in health care, but we are at risk of seeing the supplement industry become like a pharmaceutical company offering a cure-all, often at great expense to consumers. It has been. ”
