There is a significant lack of formal instruction in exercise medicine across US medical schools, highlighting a gap in preventive medicine education.
In brief: A review of 92 US medical school bulletins showed that only four schools (4%) offer exercise medicine as part of required undergraduate course work. In 31 schools (34%) exercise information is offered on an elective basis; 57 schools (62%) offer no formal instruction of this type. Despite both the increasing study of the health aspects of cardiorespiratory fitness and the public's growing awareness of these benefits, medical schools continue to place little emphasis on this important component of preventive medicine. The authors recommend that medical students be required to take at least a short course in exercise medicine that emphasizes cardiorespiratory fitness.
Whitley et al. (Sat,) studied this question.