Lifestyle Medicine Education for Health Professionals in Viet Nam: What Should Be Taught, to Whom, and at What Level?

Lifestyle Medicine Education for Health Professionals in Viet Nam: What Should Be Taught, to Whom, and at What Level?

Last reviewed: 23 September 2026

As Lifestyle Medicine becomes more visible in Viet Nam, education is likely to become one of the most important questions for the field. It is also an area where early decisions will matter. Should every doctor learn Lifestyle Medicine? What should nurses, clinical nutrition practitioners, rehabilitation professionals, clinical psychologists, pharmacists and public health professionals learn? Should medical students receive the same training as experienced clinicians? How much should a nurse know about nutrition interventions? How much should a physician know about behavior change? At what point does basic lifestyle counseling become clinical treatment requiring a different level of competence or referral?

These questions cannot be answered by offering the same course to everyone. Viet Nam has a strong reason to develop this capability. Noncommunicable diseases account for about 80% of deaths in the country, and the health system is continuing to strengthen prevention, early detection and community-based management of chronic disease. In September 2026, the World Health Organization reported that community-based hypertension and diabetes services in Viet Nam were screening around 10 million people each year, with more than two million people receiving treatment through the expanding model. The Law on Disease Prevention No. 114/2025/QH15, effective from 1 July 2026, also establishes a broader legal framework covering the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases, mental health disorders and nutrition in disease prevention. [5,6]

At the same time, Lifestyle Medicine education needs to remain scientifically rigorous, professionally appropriate and realistic about what education can authorize someone to do. A short course may increase awareness. A structured program can develop defined knowledge and skills. A professional certification may demonstrate that specified educational and assessment requirements have been met. None of these, by itself, creates a new legal scope of practice in Viet Nam.

The more useful question is therefore not simply who should study Lifestyle Medicine, but what Lifestyle Medicine competencies each health professional needs for the role they actually perform.

Start with competencies, not with one course for everyone

The current international framework provides a useful starting point. The 2025 Lifestyle Medicine Core Competencies contain 89 competencies describing knowledge and skills relevant to evidence-based Lifestyle Medicine across medical and healthcare professional disciplines. The update added a competency on the social determinants of health and revised competencies relating to planetary health and food processing. Importantly, seven of the 89 competencies are specifically identified as potentially falling outside the scope of practice of non-provider healthcare practitioners. [1]

The framework is also designed to evolve. In 2026, the International Board of Lifestyle Medicine published a formal governance and update process for maintaining the core competencies, the core definition of Lifestyle Medicine and the definitions of its pillars. The process includes input from national Lifestyle Medicine organizations and regional representatives, with the first scheduled update under the new cycle expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2027. [2]

For Viet Nam, the implication is important. The goal should not be to make every health professional function like a Lifestyle Medicine physician, nor should education blur the boundaries between medicine, nursing, clinical nutrition, rehabilitation, clinical psychology, pharmacy, public health and other disciplines. Lifestyle Medicine is inherently interdisciplinary. A stronger model is to provide a common foundation and then increase educational depth according to professional role, clinical responsibility and patient risk.

The six pillars are necessary, but they are not a complete curriculum

The updated international core definition describes Lifestyle Medicine as a medical discipline using evidence-based lifestyle interventions, including a whole-food, plant-predominant eating pattern, regular physical activity, restorative sleep, effective stress management, connectedness and avoidance of risky substances, to treat, reverse and prevent noncommunicable disease. [2] These areas provide an essential foundation, but learning the six pillars alone is not sufficient preparation for professional practice.

Health professionals also need to understand the strength and limitations of evidence, how to assess relevant behaviors and risks, how to communicate without blaming the patient, how to support sustainable behavior change, when referral is needed, how different professionals work together and how outcomes should be monitored. The current competencies extend well beyond knowledge of lifestyle factors into therapeutic relationships, evidence-based medicine, behavior change, clinical processes, interdisciplinary care, data use, quality improvement, health equity and evaluation of intervention effectiveness. [1]

This is why Lifestyle Medicine education in Viet Nam should not become a collection of lectures telling people what to eat, how much to exercise or how many hours to sleep. Professional education also needs to teach how to translate evidence into safe, feasible and person-centered care.

Behavior change deserves particular attention. A patient may already know that smoking is harmful, physical activity is beneficial or excessive alcohol consumption carries health risks. Lack of information may not be the main barrier. The patient may be working night shifts, living with chronic stress, eating within a family system that determines most meals, facing financial constraints or simply not be ready to make a particular change.

Health professionals therefore need practical competence in person-centered communication, readiness for change, goal setting, self-efficacy, relapse prevention, therapeutic alliance and appropriate use of methods such as motivational interviewing and health coaching. International medical education literature similarly supports integrating Lifestyle Medicine throughout health-professional training rather than treating it as an isolated optional topic. [3] The depth required will differ by role. A medical student needs to learn how to conduct a respectful lifestyle conversation, while a professional regularly supporting people with chronic disease may require much greater competence in assessment, self-management support, follow-up and coordination of care.

Lifestyle Medicine education needs a Vietnamese context

International competencies provide a framework, but they should not simply be translated and delivered unchanged. Nutrition education needs to connect evidence with Vietnamese eating patterns, family meals, eating outside the home, food availability, affordability and a rapidly changing food environment. Physical activity education should consider sedentary work, occupational activity, commuting, urban design, heat and air pollution. Sleep education should recognize shift work and long working hours. Discussions about alcohol need to reflect the social settings in which alcohol is consumed. Social connection needs to be understood in the context of changing family structures, migration, urbanization and population ageing.

The addition of social determinants of health to the 2025 core competencies makes this adaptation even more important. The competency asks professionals to apply Lifestyle Medicine interventions within the context of social determinants in order to improve health outcomes and health equity. [1] That changes the conversation. Instead of asking only why a patient has not followed advice, professionals should also learn to ask whether the proposed change is affordable, culturally acceptable, safe and realistically achievable in that person's life.

This distinction matters. Lifestyle Medicine should not become an approach that works mainly for people who already have the time, income, knowledge and physical environment needed to make healthy choices.

A layered model for Lifestyle Medicine education in Viet Nam

A practical model for Viet Nam could be organized into four educational layers. These are proposed levels of educational depth, not new professional titles, qualifications or regulatory classifications.

Foundation education should provide basic Lifestyle Medicine literacy for students and health professionals across disciplines. Learners should understand what Lifestyle Medicine is and is not, know the six pillars, recognize the relationship between lifestyle and major chronic diseases, understand the importance of social and environmental determinants, communicate basic evidence accurately and know when another professional is needed. The objective at this level is not independent Lifestyle Medicine practice. It is to ensure that nutrition, physical activity, sleep, risky substances, stress and social connection are no longer treated as peripheral to routine health care.

Applied practice education should be designed for professionals who regularly interact with patients and support prevention, chronic disease management or behavior change. Education should move from knowing to doing. Depending on professional role, learners may need to gather relevant lifestyle information, use appropriate assessment tools, communicate risk, support realistic goal setting, contribute to follow-up, recognize warning signs and refer appropriately.

Advanced clinical education should be intended for professionals whose authorized roles include clinical assessment, diagnosis, treatment or other higher-risk decisions. Education at this level may include integrating lifestyle interventions with disease-specific clinical guidance, managing multimorbidity, interpreting relevant clinical information, understanding treatment-related safety, coordinating multidisciplinary care and monitoring outcomes. When significant lifestyle changes may alter medication requirements or other aspects of treatment, appropriate clinical monitoring and medical oversight are particularly important.

Faculty and implementation education should be regarded as a different pathway rather than simply the highest clinical level. Educators, researchers, clinical leaders and healthcare managers need competence in curriculum design, evidence appraisal, implementation science, quality improvement, program evaluation, data governance and measurement. Someone can contribute substantially to Lifestyle Medicine education or implementation without assuming clinical functions outside their professional scope.

This approach allows the field to grow while avoiding the false assumption that everyone who studies Lifestyle Medicine should acquire the same competencies.

Who should learn what?

For students in medicine and other health professions, Lifestyle Medicine should ideally be introduced early and reinforced through relevant areas of the existing curriculum. Nutrition can connect with metabolism and chronic disease. Physical activity can be incorporated into cardiovascular, metabolic, musculoskeletal and rehabilitation teaching. Sleep can connect with neurology, mental health and primary care. Behavior change can be developed alongside communication and clinical skills. This kind of longitudinal integration is likely to be more meaningful than relying entirely on a single elective near graduation. [3]

One useful international reference is the American College of Lifestyle Medicine undergraduate medical education framework published in 2021. For students following its educational pathway toward eventual Lifestyle Medicine physician certification in the United States, it proposed 100 hours of Lifestyle Medicine education covering all undergraduate competencies, with approximately 40 hours of didactic learning and 60 hours of application activities. [4] This is useful as an international benchmark, but it should not be interpreted as a Vietnamese regulatory requirement or as evidence that every medical student in Viet Nam needs exactly 100 hours.

For physicians and other practitioners whose licensed roles include diagnosis and treatment, education should go beyond general lifestyle advice. They need sufficient competence to determine when lifestyle interventions are appropriate within disease management, understand how they interact with conventional treatment, identify relevant safety issues, monitor clinical outcomes and know when specialist or multidisciplinary referral is required. Deeper competence may be particularly relevant in cardiometabolic disease, obesity, cardiovascular risk, cancer survivorship and other chronic conditions where lifestyle factors can materially influence the course of care.

For nurses and other patient-facing health professionals, priorities may be different. Their roles often involve repeated patient contact, education, monitoring, self-management support and continuity of care. Lifestyle Medicine training can therefore emphasize assessment relevant to their professional scope, supportive communication, goal follow-up, identification of barriers, patient education, recognition of warning signs and appropriate escalation or referral.

For clinical nutrition practitioners, education should provide greater depth in dietary assessment, dietary patterns, food processing, culturally appropriate nutrition interventions, behavior change and nutrition-related monitoring. The stronger emphasis on food processing in the 2025 competencies is particularly relevant as food environments continue to change in Viet Nam. [1]

For rehabilitation, physical activity and exercise professionals, training should go beyond simply advising people to exercise more. Relevant competence may include physical activity assessment, aerobic and resistance activity, flexibility, balance and functional movement, adaptation for different populations, relevant precautions, behavior change and communication with the broader healthcare team.

For clinical psychologists and mental health professionals, Lifestyle Medicine education can connect emotional health, stress, sleep, social connection and behavior change with the bidirectional relationship between mental and physical health. Lifestyle Medicine should complement, not replace, appropriate evidence-based mental health assessment and treatment.

Pharmacists, public health professionals, health educators, healthcare managers and other professionals can also benefit from Lifestyle Medicine education, but their learning outcomes should reflect the work they actually perform. A pharmacist may need greater understanding of lifestyle factors in medication use and patient education. A public health professional may need greater depth in population interventions, determinants of health and program evaluation. Healthcare managers may need to understand how service design, workforce models, digital systems and performance measurement can support lifestyle-based care.

The objective is not professional homogenization. It is interdisciplinary alignment with clear professional boundaries.

Clinical risk should determine educational depth

Not every Lifestyle Medicine intervention carries the same level of risk. Discussing general principles of healthy eating with a healthy adult is very different from managing a major dietary intervention in an older patient with chronic kidney disease, diabetes and multiple medications. Encouraging regular movement is different from prescribing exercise for someone with significant cardiovascular disease. Discussing sleep hygiene is different from assessing and treating a sleep disorder. Supporting smoking cessation is different from making pharmacological treatment decisions.

Educational rigor should therefore increase as the potential consequences of professional decisions increase. Advanced clinical programs should include realistic cases, appropriate supervised learning, risk assessment and meaningful competency assessment. Professionals should learn not only when Lifestyle Medicine interventions may help, but also when they are insufficient on their own and when additional investigation, conventional treatment or specialist referral is required.

This distinction helps keep Lifestyle Medicine firmly within evidence-based mainstream health care rather than allowing it to be misunderstood as an alternative to conventional medicine.

Evidence appraisal, assessment and educational hours

Critical appraisal of evidence should be part of professional Lifestyle Medicine education. Evidence that a behavior is associated with better health is not necessarily the same as evidence that a particular counseling intervention will change that behavior. Evidence for prevention does not automatically establish effectiveness for treatment. Evidence that an intensive intervention produced remission in a selected study population does not mean that every patient with the same diagnosis can expect the same outcome in routine practice.

A curriculum that presents only positive findings risks becoming advocacy rather than professional education. Good training should help learners examine study design, effect size, applicability, uncertainty, potential harms, treatment burden and feasibility. This is particularly important when patients are exposed through social media to strong claims about diets, supplements, fasting, detoxification, metabolic health, longevity and other health trends.

Competence should also be assessed rather than inferred from attendance. Foundational education may appropriately use knowledge tests and evidence appraisal. Applied education should assess communication, case-based decision-making, lifestyle assessment and referral skills. Advanced clinical education should determine whether learners can integrate Lifestyle Medicine safely into realistic clinical situations, recognize uncertainty and contraindications, coordinate care and monitor outcomes. Simulation, observed consultations, structured cases, portfolios and supervised application may therefore add value beyond multiple-choice examinations.

There is also no single scientifically defensible number of educational hours that should apply to every profession and every purpose in Viet Nam. A two-hour introduction may create awareness, but it cannot establish comprehensive clinical competence. A modular program may develop specific practical skills, while advanced clinical competence requires greater depth, application and assessment. Hours are an educational input. Competence is the outcome that matters.

Vietnamese law places important boundaries around education

Education and scope of practice must remain clearly separated. Under the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, reflected in Consolidated Document No. 26/VBHN-VPQH dated 26 February 2026, professional titles requiring a practice licence and the scope of professional practice are regulated within the Vietnamese healthcare system. The Law specifically requires practitioners holding the titles of physician, y sĩ, nurse, midwife, medical technician, clinical nutrition practitioner, pre-hospital emergency practitioner and clinical psychologist to undertake continuing medical knowledge updating appropriate to their scope of practice. [7]

A Lifestyle Medicine course delivered in Viet Nam or internationally does not automatically create or expand a professional scope of practice in Viet Nam. Education can increase knowledge and capability, but clinical activities must still remain within the individual's lawful professional authority. This becomes particularly important for competencies involving diagnosis, treatment planning, complex nutrition or exercise prescription, management of mental health disorders, pharmacotherapy or modification of existing treatment. Other professionals involved in Lifestyle Medicine education or services remain subject to the legal and professional requirements applicable to their own roles.

The same distinction is important for continuing medical knowledge updating. Under Circular No. 32/2023/TT-BYT, practitioners covered by these requirements must complete at least 120 credit hours of continuing medical knowledge updating during five consecutive years. The Circular also regulates eligible forms of activity, providers, documentation and the relationship between educational content and professional scope. Although Circular No. 32/2023/TT-BYT was amended in 2026 by Circular No. 25/2026/TT-BYT, those amendments did not change the continuing medical knowledge updating requirements discussed here. [8]

A Lifestyle Medicine course should therefore not automatically be described as recognized continuing medical knowledge updating simply because it is educational or because participants receive a certificate.

In August 2026, the Ministry of Health issued Decision No. 2546/QĐ-BYT establishing quality standards for continuing training and continuing medical knowledge updating for health personnel. The standards address matters including the authority and capacity of training providers, learning outcomes, competency-based and learner-centered program design, faculty, assessment, documentation and internal quality improvement. [9] On 7 September 2026, the Department of Science, Technology and Training of the Ministry of Health issued Official Letter No. 2385/K2ĐT-ĐT asking relevant organizations to review and correct continuing education activities that were not being conducted in accordance with existing requirements, including cases involving organizations not eligible to provide such activities under the applicable framework. The Official Letter did not create a new category of training or a new licensing requirement; it reinforced compliance with the existing regulatory framework and the newly issued quality standards. [10]

For Lifestyle Medicine education in Viet Nam, this provides a useful distinction. Programs should first be designed because they are educationally necessary, evidence-based and professionally sound. Where formal continuing medical knowledge updating credit is intended, the eligibility of the provider and the program, faculty, assessment, documentation and credit arrangements must also comply with the Vietnamese requirements applicable at the time.

What should a Vietnamese Lifestyle Medicine curriculum avoid?

A Vietnamese curriculum should avoid presenting Lifestyle Medicine as an alternative to conventional medicine or implying that every chronic disease can be reversed. It should not suggest that one dietary pattern, exercise program or behavior-change technique is equally appropriate for everyone, and it should never encourage health professionals to work beyond their lawful scope or present an international credential as a substitute for Vietnamese professional authorization.

The curriculum should also not be centered on supplements, unvalidated testing or commercially driven products. Where supplements or similar interventions are relevant to a particular clinical situation, they should be discussed according to evidence, indication, safety and professional scope rather than becoming defining components of Lifestyle Medicine education.

Equally important, Lifestyle Medicine should not place all responsibility for health on the patient. Healthy choices take place within families, workplaces, food systems, neighborhoods, economic circumstances, cultures and physical environments. The inclusion of social determinants of health in the international competencies is therefore highly relevant to Viet Nam.

Planetary health should be approached in a similar way. The current international competencies recognize the relationship between Lifestyle Medicine, planetary health and sustainable living, including the effects of food systems, air pollution, the built environment and green space. [1] These issues are particularly relevant in Viet Nam, but planetary health should be understood as a cross-cutting context rather than presented as a seventh Lifestyle Medicine pillar or another responsibility placed on individual patients.

What role should the Vietnam Lifestyle Medicine Alliance play?

The Vietnam Lifestyle Medicine Alliance should not attempt to declare its own curriculum to be a national standard. A more appropriate role is to help build a transparent framework connecting international competencies with Vietnamese professional roles, local evidence, education and regulation.

A practical next step would be to map the current 89 Lifestyle Medicine competencies against relevant professional groups in Viet Nam and determine which competencies are foundational, which are role-specific and which require advanced clinical responsibility. This process should involve Vietnamese clinicians, educators and representatives from different disciplines rather than being developed by a single profession.

From that foundation, the Vietnam Lifestyle Medicine Alliance could develop common introductory education and work with universities, hospitals and appropriate professional partners on more specialized modules. Faculty development should occur alongside curriculum development. Where formal continuing medical knowledge updating credit is intended, programs should be organized with or through eligible providers and comply with the applicable Vietnamese requirements. Where an activity is educational but does not qualify for formal credit, that distinction should be communicated clearly.

Evaluation should also move beyond participant satisfaction. The more important questions are whether education improves professional knowledge and behavior, the quality of lifestyle assessment and counseling, appropriate referral and interdisciplinary care, and ultimately the quality of care received by patients.

A curriculum that can evolve

The curriculum should not be designed once and then left unchanged for years. The 2025 core competencies established an update schedule, and the governance process published in 2026 provides a more structured mechanism for future review involving the International Board of Lifestyle Medicine Scientific Advisory Committee, national Lifestyle Medicine organizations, regional synthesis and wider consultation. The first scheduled update under this process is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2027. [1,2]

For Viet Nam, a modular approach would therefore make sense. Core scientific principles can remain relatively stable, while modules on emerging evidence, clinical guidance, food environments, digital health, planetary health, implementation and Vietnamese regulation can be reviewed periodically.

Local evidence should also shape future education. If Vietnamese research shows that health professionals are confident in cardiovascular risk management but less prepared in sleep assessment, behavior change or nutrition referral, curricula should respond to those gaps. If implementation studies identify problems with workflow, referral pathways or workforce capacity, those findings should return to education.

Education, research and practice should gradually become parts of the same learning system.

The goal is capability, not simply more certificates

Lifestyle Medicine education in Viet Nam does not need to begin by creating another profession. It can begin by helping the existing health workforce become better able to understand and address the lifestyle-related contributors to health and chronic disease within each profession's legitimate role.

Not every health professional needs the same depth of education. Students need a strong foundation. Professionals who work directly with patients need practical skills in communication, assessment, behavior change and referral appropriate to their roles. Clinicians responsible for diagnosis and treatment need deeper clinical competence and safety knowledge. Educators, researchers and health-system leaders need the ability to build programs, evaluate outcomes and integrate Lifestyle Medicine into real systems of care.

The central question is therefore not whether Viet Nam needs one Lifestyle Medicine curriculum. It is what minimum competence each professional needs, what additional competence their role requires, and how that competence can be demonstrated safely and credibly.

If Viet Nam can answer those questions well, Lifestyle Medicine education can develop as part of mainstream healthcare education rather than as a collection of courses operating alongside it. In the long term, that may matter far more than the number of Lifestyle Medicine certificates issued.

References and further reading

1. Rea BL, Cheema S, Lanza S, Makinde MT, Matthews S, Palma M, Szentgyörgyi B, Karlsen MC. Lifestyle Medicine Core Competencies: 2025 Update. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. 2026;20(3):443–451. doi:10.1177/15598276251379821.

2. Rea BL, Cheema S, Lanza S, Makinde MT, Matthews S, Palma M, Kadosh MA, Lapsa-Lešinske A, Karlsen MC. Governance and Update Process for Lifestyle Medicine Core Competencies and Definitions. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. 2026;20(7):1116–1123. doi:10.1177/15598276261424740.

3. Frates B, Ortega HA, Freeman KJ, Co JPT, Bernstein M. Lifestyle Medicine in Medical Education: Maximizing Impact. Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes. 2024;8(5):451–474. doi:10.1016/j.mayocpiqo.2024.07.003.

4. Trilk JL, Worthman S, Shetty P, et al. Undergraduate Medical Education: Lifestyle Medicine Curriculum Implementation Standards. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. 2021;15(5):526–530. doi:10.1177/15598276211008142.

5. World Health Organization. Strengthened grassroots health care brings noncommunicable disease services to 10 million people in Viet Nam. 8 September 2026.

6. National Assembly of Viet Nam. Law on Disease Prevention No. 114/2025/QH15. Adopted 10 December 2025; effective 1 July 2026.

7. Office of the National Assembly of Viet Nam. Consolidated Document No. 26/VBHN-VPQH dated 26 February 2026 consolidating the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment.

8. Ministry of Health of Viet Nam. Circular No. 32/2023/TT-BYT dated 31 December 2023 detailing certain provisions of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, as amended by Circular No. 25/2026/TT-BYT.

9. Ministry of Health of Viet Nam. Decision No. 2546/QĐ-BYT dated 10 August 2026 issuing the Quality Standards for Continuing Training and Continuing Medical Knowledge Updating for Health Personnel.

10. Department of Science, Technology and Training, Ministry of Health of Viet Nam. Official Letter No. 2385/K2ĐT-ĐT dated 7 September 2026 on ensuring the quality of continuing training and continuing medical knowledge updating for health personnel.

Education and regulatory note: This article presents a proposed framework for discussion on Lifestyle Medicine education in Viet Nam. It is not a national curriculum, a Ministry of Health standard, a professional licensing framework or a formal competency standard for any Vietnamese health profession. Appropriate educational content and depth depend on the learner's professional background, responsibilities and lawful scope of practice.

Completion of a Lifestyle Medicine educational program or receipt of a certificate does not, by itself, create or expand a professional scope of practice in Viet Nam. Where an educational activity is described as formal continuing medical knowledge updating for practitioners, its provider, program, faculty, assessment, documentation and credit arrangements should comply with the Vietnamese requirements applicable at the time of delivery.

This proposed framework should be reviewed as international Lifestyle Medicine competencies and definitions, Vietnamese professional regulations, clinical guidance and local evidence continue to evolve.

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