The American Medical Association (AMA) is introducing a series of free webinars aimed at educating physicians about healthy diet patterns and their effects on overall health. The first episode, titled "Dietary Guidelines: What Physicians Need to Know," will air on March 31, 2026, at 2 p.m. CDT. This session will be hosted by AMA President Dr. Bobby Mukkamala and is eligible for one AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.
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Dr. Mukkamala, a board-certified otolaryngologist and member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, will be joined by experts including Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, director of the Tufts Food is Medicine Institute, and Dr. Christopher Gardner, a research professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Participants will gain insights into the impact of dietary guidelines on nutrition and eating habits, learn about key points from the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and receive strategies for counseling patients about dietary choices. Following the initial episode, future webinars in the series will include topics such as “Understanding Processed Food” on April 29 and “Helping Patients Navigate Protein” on May 19, all hosted by Dr. Mukkamala.
The initiative comes as a response to the significant health challenges posed by obesity and diabetes in the U.S., where over 100 million adults are affected by obesity and one-third have prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. Dr. Mukkamala highlighted the role of processed foods in exacerbating these issues, claiming that "food is medicine."
The AMA's commitment extends beyond webinars; it includes developing educational resources tailored for medical professionals, organizing roundtables with experts, and working with Congress to promote nutrition-focused policies. Additionally, the AMA supports a recent move by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education to enhance nutrition education across all U.S. medical programs, ensuring that future physicians are equipped to address nutritional health in their practice.