Cooking with the curriculum: a pilot culinary medicine program at the Larner College of Medicine

Abstract

Background: Physicians are highly trusted sources of health advice, yet many feel unprepared to address nutrition with their patients due to a perceived lack of knowledge or confidence. In recent years, there has been increased recognition in medical education of lifestyle factors' impact on health outcomes in chronic diseases and the value of integrating diet-related interventions into patient care. This integration requires physicians and healthcare professionals to have the knowledge and tools necessary to provide nutrition recommendations and counseling to improve chronic disease management. A growing number of medical schools have begun to incorporate culinary medicine, an evidence-based discipline that offers an experiential learning approach to improve student's education in nutrition and address food-related social determinants of health.

Methods: In the fall of 2023, a culinary medicine pilot program was implemented for first-year medical students at the Larner College of Medicine (LCOM), aimed at increasing their nutrition knowledge and counseling skills. The course was led and developed by two second-year medical students certified in dietetics and integrative health with oversight provided by faculty physicians board-certified in family medicine and lifestyle medicine. The program included five sessions, each focusing on a different chronic disease. Each session consisted of a 45-min didactic lesson followed by a 45-min culinary medicine experiential lesson. The program took place in medical education classrooms utilizing small appliances and low-cost ingredients. The pilot program was evaluated by a post-program survey, which measured perceived knowledge, confidence, and intention to apply learning in clinical practice and personal life.

Results: The program included 26 first year medical students. The post-program survey revealed that 86% of respondents agreed they would use the information learned in the course in their future clinical practice, and 100% agreed they would apply this knowledge in their own lives. Ninety-one percent reported an enhanced understanding of the relationship between diet and disease, and 95% indicated increased confidence in providing nutrition counseling, particularly regarding social determinants of health.

Conclusion: These results demonstrate the benefits of a low-cost educational model of culinary medicine. Its potential to increase future physicians'nutrition knowledge and improve their confidence in providing meaningful, evidence-based dietary guidance is considerable.

Keywords: Culinary Medicine; Medical Education; Nutrition.

Fig. 1

Student perception of overall course applicability. To assess students’ perceptions of the course, they were asked the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with the above statements. 100% of participants strongly agreed or agreed that they would use knowledge learned in their own life (4.77 ± 0.43). 95% strongly agreed or agreed that they would use this knowledge in clinical practice (4.59 ± 0.6). 100% strongly agreed or agreed that others would benefit from taking this program (4.82 ± 0.39), and 86% strongly agreed or agreed that this course significantly contributed to their medical education (4.36 ± 0.73).​

Fig. 2

Student perception of knowledge gained related to diet and chronic disease. To assess how the course impacted student’s knowledge of the role that diet plays in the covered chronic diseases, students were asked the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with the following statement: “Participation in this course improved my understanding of how the following diseases are linked to diet.” Of the 22 participants, 77% strongly agreed or agreed that the course improved their understanding of diet in pediatric and geriatric conditions (Lifecycle) (4.32 ± 0.78), 91% strongly agreed or agreed for cardiovascular disease (4.41 ± 0.67), 91% strongly agreed or agreed for diabetes mellitus (4.6 ± 0.67), 95% strongly agreed or agreed for cancer (4.54 ± 0.60), and 91% strongly agreed or agreed for obesity (4.45 ± 0.67)

Fig. 3

Student perception of knowledge gained related to patient counseling. To assess how the course impacted students’ confidence in patient counseling, students were asked the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with the following statement: “Participation in this course has improved my confidence in counseling patients to overcome the following common barriers to healthy eating.” 95% felt more confident in counseling patients to overcome the perception of insufficient time to eat healthy (4.36 ± 0.58), 95% felt more confident in counseling the belief that eating healthy on a budget is impossible (4.36 ± 0.73), 91% felt more confident on counseling unwillingness to give up unhealthy foods (4.27 ± 0.77), and 91% felt more confident counseling lack of patient confidence to prepare healthy food (4.36 ± 0.66). Additionally, 86% of participants felt more confident in offering nutritional advice to future patients (4.23 ± 0.69), and 77% felt more confident in taking a diet history (4.23 ± 0.81)