Integrating lifestyle medicine into graduate education to address chronic disease
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“The value of having students who are lifestyle medicine trained is really in their ability to look upstream, where health problems begin.”
— Dr. Jen King, director, Wellness Medical Center, Point Loma Nazarene University
Preparing the next generation to address root causes of type 2 diabetes
At Point Loma Nazarene University, lifestyle medicine is woven throughout the Master of Science in Integrative Wellness program. The six pillars—nutrition, physical activity, stress management, restorative sleep, connectedness, and avoidance of risky substances—are embedded across coursework, empowering students to apply them in diverse real-world settings.
Faculty emphasize practical application over rigid instruction. Rather than prescribing a single definition of “healthy,” students are equipped with the language, tools, and confidence to tailor lifestyle medicine approaches to specific patient populations. Projects are individualized, community-focused, and designed to translate upstream prevention into action.
Access to nourishing food is addressed directly through initiatives like the Fresh Food Marketplace, allowing students to connect clinical recommendations with tangible resources. By pairing education with service, and prevention with community engagement, the program prepares graduates to address the root causes of chronic disease—including type 2 diabetes—before complications develop.
About PLNU
PLNU’s College of Health Sciences provides multidisciplinary education in health, fitness, wellness, and medicine that transforms students and prepares them to serve the world.
