President Trump’s administration just landed another concrete Make America Healthy Again win, and this one hits the medical schools that train America’s doctors.
On June 8, 2026, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that 19 more medical schools signed the Trump administration’s Nutrition Education Pledge.
That brings the total to 73 participating schools, after 54 joined earlier this year.
The 19 new schools vowed to incorporate 40 hours of nutritional education, or its competency equivalent, into graduation requirements starting this fall.
HHS said the push also reaches beyond individual schools.
HHS and the Department of Education hosted eight of the nation’s leading accreditors, assessors, and medical organizations as part of a broader nutrition reform announcement.
The agency framed the move as a shift across medical education, testing, training, and residency:
🚨 HUGE 🚨
73 medical schools have now joined the Trump administration’s Nutrition Education Pledge after 19 schools signed on today.
Nutrition is a powerful tools to prevent and treat chronic disease. Thanks to @POTUS, medical education is starting to reflect that reality. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/7Tnw2z167g
— HHS (@HHSGov) June 8, 2026
For decades, nutrition was treated as an afterthought in medical training. The numbers show it.
HHS cited a 2022 survey finding that medical students reported receiving an average of just 1.2 hours of formal nutrition education each year.
Until recently, three-fourths of U.S. medical schools did not require clinical nutrition courses, and only 14 percent of residency programs required a nutrition curriculum.
Now set that against what the country spends treating the fallout.
HHS said America spends $4.4 trillion annually treating chronic disease and mental health, while an estimated one million Americans die from food-related chronic illnesses each year.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services laid out the announcement and the stakes:
WASHINGTON – June 8, 2026 – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Education today hosted eight of the nation’s leading accreditors, assessors, and medical organizations to announce a historic development to increase nutrition requirements at every level of U.S. medical education, competency-evaluation, training, and residency.
ADVERTISEMENTAdditionally, 19 medical schools across the country have signed the Trump administration’s Nutrition Education Pledge, vowing to incorporate 40 hours of nutritional education or its competency equivalent into graduation requirements starting this fall.
“Poor diets are the primary driver of America’s chronic disease epidemic, and today’s announcement reflects the shifting landscape toward placing nutrition and prevention at the core of patient health,” said Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
“Still, more work remains, and I look forward to seeing nutrition play an increased role as the latest science, data, and best practices develop.”
“Making America Healthy Again begins with education, and we are encouraged to see accreditors and institutions of higher education working together to better prepare current and future physicians for success,” said Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent.
“This commitment to strengthening nutrition education reflects the Trump Administration’s efforts to reform higher education and focus on what matters most: ensuring every student has access to a high-quality education and the knowledge needed to improve our communities.”
The U.S. is in a chronic disease crisis. Despite spending $4.4 trillion annually on treating chronic disease and mental health, an estimated one million Americans die from food-related chronic illnesses each year.
A 2022 survey published in the Journal of Wellness found that medical students reported receiving an average of just 1.2 hours of formal nutrition education each year.
Until recently, three-fourths of U.S. medical schools did not require clinical nutrition courses, and only 14% of residency programs require a nutrition curriculum.
Adding to the 54 schools announced earlier this year, today 19 new schools have voluntarily pledged to require at least 40 hours of nutrition education, or implement a 40-hour competency equivalent, for students starting in the fall of 2026.
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That is the part ordinary families should care about.
If doctors are never trained to think seriously about food, prevention gets ignored and the prescription pad does the heavy lifting.
America’s chronic disease crisis took decades to build.
This moves medical education in the direction families have been begging for: prevention, nutrition, and root-cause health instead of pretending food has nothing to do with sickness.
