“A fair amount of lifestyle counseling makes doctors nervous,” Dr. Frank said. “I think part of the issue is that many doctors don't want the additional responsibility of being role models, and I think that's naive, because we've got it even if we don't want it.”
For instance, an overweight doctor who lectures a patient on the importance of maintaining a healthy weight is likely not as believable as a doctor with a healthy weight, she said.
Dr. Frank continues to study the effect of healthier medical students in an evidence-based way, and she has consulted on the development of programs to promote healthy behavior among medical students at schools in the United States and other countries.
“If schools are interested in doing this, they should contact me and talk [about] how to evaluate the results,” she said. “I think that this is an extremely promising new modality, but we need to learn what students go on to do. We can't test this on mice,” she said.