Lifestyle Medicine
TITLE: Lifestyle Medicine
COURSE NO.: SOMN 701
DEPARTMENT: Neurosciences and Psychiatry
DURATION: One semester
ACADEMIC DIRECTOR: Angele McGrady, Ph.D., MEd, LPCC (Responsible for grading) Angele.mcgrady@utoledo.edu; 419-383-5653
ELECTIVE COORDINATOR: Angele McGrady, Ph.D. MEd, LPCC
FACULTY PARTICIPANTS: Angele McGrady, Ph.D., MEd, LPCC
                         Professor, Department of Psychiatry
 419-383-5653  
                         Julie Brennan, Ph.D., R.D., L.D.
                         Professor, Director of Behavioral
                  Health
                         Department of Family Medicine
                         Amy Riese, M.D.
                         Assistant Professor, Department
                  of Psychiatry
SEMESTERS AVAILABLE: Fall and Spring; M2 students in the fall and M1 students in the spring.
NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 25 per semester
LOCATIONS: UTMC
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
This elective is designed to introduce first and second year medical students to the
                  fundamentals of life style medicine, including physical activity, nutrition and stress
                  management. The major contemporary physical and emotional illnesses are strongly influenced
                  by the choices that people make and the actions that result from those choices. Current
                  literature strongly supports the roles of behavior and personal decision making in
                  health and illness. This elective will present the student with evidenced based lifestyle
                  recommendations for themselves. Students will have the opportunity to work with peers
                  and faculty in assessing their own lifestyle, setting goals and then designing a program
                  to make one lifestyle change during the semester. Case discussions are used to apply
                  what students have learned to patient examples
Total time requirement will be a minimum of 12 hours.
EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES:
- Define lifestyle medicine and its components. (EPOs: MK-7)
- Evaluate the key elements of lifestyle (activity, nutrition, sleep and reactions to stress) that affect health and illness (EPOs: MK-4, MK-2; MK-3)
- Establish the key elements of goal setting (EPOs: PBL-1)
- Design and implement a plan for personal change in one of the domains of lifestyle medicine. (EPOs: PB-1; IPC-2 PBL-3)
- Summarize general guidelines for prescribing lifestyle changes to patients whose physical problems and emotional distress are affected by their lifestyle (EPOs: IPC-2, IPC-3)
METHODS OF TEACHING:
- Lectures/presentation on topics relevant to lifestyle medicine.
- Feedback on current lifestyle and comparison to norms
- Peer to peer teaching/learning; group activity
- Cases to test skills in designing lifestyle recommendations
- Recommended reading
METHODS OF STUDENT EVALUATION:
- Documentation of a minimum of 12 hours of activity.
- Attendance at 5 out of 5 lectures/discussions. Trying to change 4 to 5 but it is not deleting “4”
- Completion of goal setting assignment
- Completion of assessment of physical activity, nutrition and current stress
- Completion of lifestyle change assignment using patient cases provided by faculty
ELECTIVE EVALUATION: Students will be given the opportunity to evaluate their experience and make recommendations to the academic director and teaching faculty
PREREQUISITES: First or second-year medical student in good academic standing.
UNIVERSITY POLICIES
Institutional Classroom Attendance Policy 
Please be aware that the university has implemented an attendance policy, which requires
                  faculty to verify student participation in every class a student is registered at
                  the start of each new semester/course. If you have not attended/participated in class
                  (completed any course activities or assignments) within this period, I am required
                  by federal law to report you as having not attended class. This date varies by the
                  part of term, in which your course started, these dates can be found here: . Unfortunately, not attending/participating in class impacts your eligibility to
                  receive financial aid, so it is VERY important that you attend class and complete
                  course work early. Please contact me as soon as possible to discuss options and/or
                  possible accommodations if you have any difficulty completing assignments.
Policy Statement on Non‐Discrimination on the Basis of Disability (ADA)
The University is an equal opportunity educational institution. Please read  Students can find this policy along with other university policies listed by audience
                  on the .
Academic Accommodations
ýĻƷ embraces the inclusion of students with disabilities. We
                  are committed to ensuring equal opportunity and seamless access for full participation
                  in all courses. For students who have an Accommodations Memo from the Office of Accessibility
                  and Disability Resources, I invite you to correspond with me as soon as possible so
                  that we can communicate confidentially about implementing accommodations in this course.
For students who have not established accommodations with the Office of Accessibility and Disability Resources and are experiencing disability access barriers or are interested in a referral to health care resources for a potential disability, please connect with the office by calling 419.530.4981 or sending an email to StudentDisability@utoledo.edu.
Religious Accommodations
A student is permitted to be absent, without penalty, for up to three days each academic semester to take holidays for reasons of faith or religious or spiritual belief system or
                  to participate in organized activities conducted under the auspices of a religious
                  denomination church, or other religious or spiritual organization. 3364-71-30 Religious accommodations policy and 3364-71-30.01 Religious accommodations procedure.
Grievance procedure: A student may notify the institution of any grievance regarding the policy’s implementation using the 3364-71-05.1 Academic grievance procedure.
ACADEMIC AND SUPPORT SERVICES 
Please use this link to explore the wide array of resources and services available
                  to you as a student:  (please refer to the face-to-face syllabus guidelines for more guidance/details).
SAFETY AND HEALTH SERVICES FOR UT STUDENTS
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ECC Approved
July 2025