The scholarships support certification in lifestyle medicine for residency program directors and faculty members interested in integrating lifestyle medicine into their residency programs.
ST. LOUIS, July 24, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) and American Board of Lifestyle Medicine (ABLM) are proud to announce 15 recipients of the 2025 Dr. Stephen Turner Residency Director & Faculty Scholarship supporting the integration of lifestyle medicine into medical residency programs nationwide.
The scholarships cover the cost of training and certification in lifestyle medicine to equip residency program directors and faculty with the confidence, knowledge and skills to implement the Lifestyle Medicine Residency Curriculum (LMRC) and train residents in their program. The LMRC is a comprehensive, applicable, and flexible curriculum that prepares residents to make evidence-based, lifestyle behavior interventions and qualify to sit for the ABLM lifestyle medicine certification exam upon residency completion.
The scholarships were established through a generous gift from Stephen Turner, MD, DipABLM, a Mayo Clinic nephrologist who was in the inaugural 2017 cohort to become certified as a lifestyle medicine physician. Included in the scholarship award are: ACLM membership for one year; registration for Lifestyle Medicine 2025, ACLM's annual conference to be held Nov. 16-19 in Grapevine, Texas; enrollment in the Foundations of Lifestyle Medicine Board Review, 4th Edition; and ABLM exam registration fees.
Education in the six pillars of lifestyle medicine— optimal nutrition, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, connectedness, and avoidance of risky substances—have historically been lacking throughout medical education and training. Only 29 percent of medical schools in the U.S. report meeting the recommended minimum 25 hours of nutrition education. Launched by ACLM in 2018, the LMRC fills the gap in lifestyle medicine and nutrition education in graduate medical programs. Today, more than 400 U.S. residency programs incorporate the LMRC.
Lifestyle medicine is a medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions as a primary modality to treat chronic conditions including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Lifestyle medicine certified clinicians are trained to apply evidence-based, whole-person, prescriptive lifestyle change to treat and, when used intensively, often reverse such conditions. Applying the six pillars of lifestyle medicine also provides effective prevention for these conditions.
"The momentum behind lifestyle medicine continues to build because forward-thinking leaders in medical education understand that real change starts with how we train physicians," said ACLM Medical Director of Education Brenda Rea, MD, DrPH, PT, RD, DipABLM, Lifestyle Medicine Intensivist. "This year's scholarship recipients are answering the call to transform health care from the ground up—by equipping residents with the tools to address root causes of disease and restore health, not just manage symptoms. Their leadership is vital to shaping a future where evidence-based lifestyle interventions are the foundation of medical care."
2025 Dr. Stephen Turner Residency Director & Faculty Scholarship Recipients
Komal Soin, MD, MPH
University of Hawaii
Aiea, Hawaii
Nicole Alu, DO
TidalHealth Family Medicine
Salisbury, Md.
Monica Juma, DO, FAAFP
University of Tennessee Family Medicine
Memphis, Tenn.
Carlton Covey, MD, FAAFP
Travis Air Force Base
Fairfield, Calif.
Sonali Iyer, MD
UCI Health
Orange, Calif.
Lea Johnson, MD, DABOM
Memorial Hermann
Sugar Land, Texas
Matthew Case, DO, MPH, MMCi
Duke University
Raleigh, N.C.
Vani Potluri, MD
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas
Megan Bradley, MD
University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine
Knoxville, Tenn.
James Arnold, DO
Gadsden Family Medicine Residency
Trussville, Ala.
Elizabeth Bockhold, MD
Hinsdale Family Medicine Residency
Hinsdale, Ill.
Yasin Ibrahim, MD
UT Tyler
Tyler, Texas
Molly Webber, MD
WSU Family Medicine Residency
Pullman, Wash.
Lynn Fisher, MD
KU School of Medicine – Wichita
Wichita, Kan.
Nandhini Veeraraghavan, MD, CAQSM
St. Luke's Warren Hospital
Bethlehem, Pa.
About ACLM®
The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) is the nation's medical professional society advancing the field of lifestyle medicine as the foundation of a redesigned, value-based and equitable healthcare delivery system, essential to achieving the Quintuple Aim and whole-person health. ACLM represents, advocates for, trains, certifies, and equips its members to identify and eradicate the root cause of chronic disease by optimizing modifiable risk factors. ACLM is filling the gaping void of lifestyle medicine in medical education, providing more than 1.2 million hours of lifestyle medicine education to physicians and other health professionals since 2004, while also advancing research, clinical practice and reimbursement strategies.
Media Contact
Alex Branch, American College of Lifestyle Medicine, 8173072399, [email protected], https://lifestylemedicine.org/
SOURCE American College of Lifestyle Medicine
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