The Training Health Professionals initiative is a national effort to ensure medical students, physicians, nurses, and other health professionals are taught how to initiate discussions with patients that help prevent or treat obesity. The project is a joint initiative of the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, the American College of Sports Medicine, and the Health and Medical Division—formerly the Institute of Medicine—of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The four partner organizations received a two-year grant from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in December 2015 to:

• Develop and implement core competencies to address, treat, and prevent obesity across health professions;
• Improve reimbursement policy to support health services that target lifestyle factors, such as nutrition and physical activity; and
• Recognize and reward innovation through the Innovation Award for Health Care Provider Training and Education

Impact Catalysts (through its predecessor firm, Root Cause) worked with the initiative partners over the course of its start-up year to develop a sustainability strategy beyond the RWJF grant, identify potential partners at the state and national levels, and determine how to position the initiative with public and private funding sources.