President American College of Lifestyle Medicine Midland, Texas, United States
In this annual "State of the Field" keynote, ACLM President Dr. Padmaja Patel charts the trajectory of lifestyle medicine (LM) as it moves from a growing movement to a foundational standard for the prevention, treatment, and remission of chronic disease. Dr. Patel will assess the national momentum behind the field and the structural shifts now bringing LM into the center of clinical care—across academic integration, workforce development, payment and policy innovation, research, quality measurement reform, and strategic partnerships.
She will share progress on ACLM's strategic priorities, including training and workforce expansion, rural health transformation, scalable clinical implementation, and the College's growing national influence through advocacy and stakeholder engagement.
Attendees will gain a clear view of the coordinated national efforts working to establish lifestyle medicine as the new standard of care. Dr. Patel will close with a forward-looking perspective on accelerating adoption, confronting the remaining barriers, and seizing emerging opportunities to make lifestyle medicine the foundation of health and healthcare.
Learning Objectives:
Describe key advancements in lifestyle medicine across workforce development, payment reform, policy, quality measurement, and partnerships.
Analyze how national initiatives, including RHTP, training programs, and federal partnerships, influence the implementation of lifestyle medicine in clinical practice.
Evaluate the role of legislative, regulatory, and advocacy strategies in advancing lifestyle medicine adoption at scale.
Interpret the implications of emerging guidance documents and Project Remission for establishing lifestyle medicine as a standard of care.
