Establishing Competencies for Physicians Who Specialize in the Practice of Lifestyle Medicine

Purpose: This activity by the Expert Lifestyle Medicine Panel (ELMP) proposes a set of competencies for providers who specialize in the practice of lifestyle medicine (LM), focused on intensive therapeutic lifestyle change. Methods: ELMP invited a core consensus group consisting of 13 providers who specialize in LM and key stakeholders to develop, by consensus, a set of competencies for those specializing in the practice of LM based on the LM core competencies for primary care physicians published in 2010. Two ELMP members (JK and MCK) facilitated and moderated the consensus process conducted by email and teleconference. The competencies were emailed to the consensus group for comment and revision and, through an iterative process, full consensus was reached by the 13-member group. Competencies were organized into the 6 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and American Board of Medical Specialties (ACGME/ABMS) categories. Results: The final set of competencies consist of 34 competencies in the 6 ACGME/ABMS categories. Conclusion: This new set of competencies will provide guidance for the education, certification, and practice of lifestyle medicine by physicians and other health providers who specialize in the practice of intensive lifestyle medicine treatment.