Table 1.

Nutrition in medical system curricula between France and the US.

	France	United States
Structure	Pre-clinical years (1–3 years): general training in medical sciences. Clinical years (3 years): pathological processes, treatment and prevention, organization of healthcare systems, evaluation of healthcare practices, ethics and medical liability. Third cycle/Residency (3–6 years depending on the specialty): acquisition of knowledge and skills enabling provision of quality care in the specialty, focus on the needs of patients.	Pre-clinical years (2 years): general training in medical sciences. Clinical years (2 years): clinical rotations, receiving basic instruction and hands-on experience with patients in the major medical specialties. Residency (3 to 7 years depending on the specialty): acquisition of knowledge and skills enabling provision quality care in the specialty, focus on the needs of patients.
Presence of Nutrition Instruction	Taught in most medical schools. Only taught during pre-clinical years. Can be taught during residency depending on the specialty; there is no residency in nutrition.	Not taught in every medical school. Mostly taught during pre-clinical years and sometimes during clinical years. Can be taught during residency depending on the specialty. There is no residency in nutrition.
Format of Nutrition Instruction	Physiological and biochemical approaches to nutrients. Compulsory for all students when taught. Not taught in every medical school. Only taught during pre-clinical years.	Physiological and biochemical approaches to nutrients which are often incorporated within endocrinology class. Mostly non-compulsory. Culinary medicine programs (Teaching Kitchen, Health Meets Food, others).
Nutrition Evaluation	Nutrition is part of the national board exam whether or not medical students have been taught it in class. Mostly tested with Endocrinology.	Nutrition is not compulsory most of the time and not always evaluated.