FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 27, 2018
Contact: Michael Klaper, MD at MovingMedicineForward@plantpurecommunities.org (704) 412-4506 x101
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Dr. Klaper and PlantPure Communities Launch “Moving Medicine Forward” Initiative
Project aims to make Americans healthier by providing nutrition education in medical schools
Michael Klaper, MD, one of the leading voices in support of nutrition education in medical schools, and the nonprofit PlantPure Communities today announced a two-year Initiative to encourage training in clinically-applied, plant-based nutrition and lifestyle medicine in medical schools across the country.
The sad truth is that most physicians know little about nutrition. So, the role of the patient’s daily diet as a primary cause of most of the diseases brought to Western doctors to be diagnosed and treated is seldom recognized. Most medical schools do not formally teach clinical nutrition to their students, and the courses that the few schools that do offer nutrition education are severely lacking in depth and clinical relevance. Most tragically, the powerful ability of a properly formulated nutrition-based program to effectively arrest and reverse most chronic diseases is generally not taught to physicians – so its benefits are denied to millions of patients, despite its proven effectiveness, acceptability and affordability. As a result, millions of lives and trillions of dollars are needlessly lost each year, to the detriment of individuals, their families, their community, and, ultimately, all of society.
The Moving Medicine Forward Initiative (MMF Initiative) aims to change this by weaving the thread of applied nutrition into the very DNA of medical education. According to Dr. Klaper, “We can’t keep practicing medicine as if what our patients are eating has no effect upon the diseases they bring to us to treat!” The MMF Initiative will help open the eyes of young healers to a brand of nutrition-based medicine that is far more effective and rewarding than focusing exclusively on pharmaceuticals and procedures while giving short shrift to their patients’ diets.
Dr. Klaper brings to this MMF Initiative 46 years as a primary care physician, 35 of which centered upon applying plant-based nutrition to arrest and often reverse chronic disease. Along with experienced colleagues in medicine, dietetics, psychology and related disciplines, Dr. Klaper will be directing development of a science-based curriculum for medical students and practicing clinicians on how to utilize nutrition-based healing principles in clinical settings.
Through the MMF Initiative, Dr. Klaper will be traveling throughout North America, giving live presentations at medical schools on the power of the patient’s diet to both cause or reverse diseases. At each medical school, he will encourage the students to form local Nutrition Interest Groups, where interest in clinical nutrition is kept alive through regular clinical rounds, case discussions, journal clubs, online presentations by experienced clinicians, etc. Most importantly, the MMF Initiative will be encouraging individual medical schools to establish their own courses in applied clinical nutrition as a regular part of their education program.
PlantPure Communities (PPC) is providing administrative, organizational and strategic support for the Initiative. PPC is a 501c3 nonprofit organization founded by Nelson Campbell, producer of the 2015 PlantPure Nation film and son of Dr. T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study.
Given the increasing scientific validation of the effectiveness of plant-based nutrition to reverse degenerative disease, combined with the crescendo of public awareness and acceptance of more plant-based diets, the times are far more favorable now to reach physicians and medical educators with the potent message of the therapeutic effectiveness of plant-based nutrition.
The Moving Medicine Forward Initiative includes:
Research — to clarify the current and planned programs across the country, learning what’s working and what’s needed to make applied nutrition part of every medical school curriculum.
Creation of Medical School Nutrition Courses — establishing a core curriculum to teach medical students about the power of nutrition to prevent and reverse disease
Creation of Toolkits for Student Leaders — a collection of online resources, insights and strategies to empower nutritionally-aware students and to encourage networking with like-minded professionals in their community and worldwide.
Dr. Klaper’s live presentations at medical schools throughout North America on the power of the patient’s diet to either cause or reverse diseases and the promotion of Nutrition Interest Groups at each school, where the practical uses of applied nutrition are explored weekly through clinical rounds, online presentations, journal clubs, etc.
… and, surely, much more, as bright energetic medical students become involved and contribute their own experiences and ideas!
According to Nelson Campbell, founder and board chair of PlantPure Communities, “The American healthcare system is mostly reliant on pharmaceuticals for the treatment of disease, but there is a far better way to improve health, and that is to use food as medicine.”
Colin Campbell, PhD, author of The China Study (based on the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted), who serves on the PPC Advisory Board, said, “The whole food, plant-based diet, comprised of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, is able to maintain and restore health more effectively than all the pills and medical procedures combined.”
Moving Medicine Forward, a collaborative Dr. Klaper and PPC Medical School Nutrition Education Initiative, will change the way that future doctors treat their patients and significantly improve the health of future generations.
For more information about this Initiative and how to aid its efforts, click here.
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