Newswise — One of the challenges facing doctors today is helping their patients lose weight. To address this challenge, McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) has launched a one-year clinical fellowship in obesity medicine that covers anti-obesity medications, nutritional changes, physical activity and behavior modifications.
The typical internist sees many patients who need to lose weight. Nearly three-quarters of American men and more than 60 percent of women are overweight, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
“We are the fifth program in the nation to offer a clinical obesity medicine fellowship,” said Deborah Bade Horn, D.O., M.P.H., medical director of the UT Physicians Center for Obesity Medicine and Metabolic Performance (COMMP) at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth.
The disease of obesity dramatically increases a person’s risk of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, arthritis and sleep apnea. There are a total of 196 diseases associated with obesity.
When Katherine Duncan, M.D., learned about the fellowship program, she jumped at the opportunity. “A lot of my patients struggle with their weight. This program will give me the tools to help them,” said Duncan, who earned her medical degree at the University of Arizona and is the first fellow in the program.
Horn said, “We help people learn that obesity is about abnormal physiology, not willpower. COMMP provides an individual with the comprehensive resources he or she needs to succeed.”
The fellowship is named in honor of the Carolyn J. and Robert J. Allison Jr. Family Foundation. The program is for graduates of internal medicine, family medicine or endocrinology training programs, and the next fellow will be recruited for the summer of 2017.
“We anticipate that trainees who complete this fellowship program will be prepared to pursue clinical and/or academic careers focused in obesity medicine and to become leaders in this emerging discipline,” Horn said.
For further information or application materials regarding the fellowship, contact Salome Roe at [email protected]. Clinic information is available by calling 713-486-1348.
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