Krumholz Sarah, Hurd Molly, Tenney Alyssa, Iacono Lauren, Vollbrecht Christina, Calkins Whitney
University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, Burlington, VT, USA.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington, VT, USA.
BMC Med Educ. 2025 Apr 11;25(1):517. doi: 10.1186/s12909-025-07103-z.
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.
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.
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.
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.
医生是健康建议的高度可信来源，但许多人因感觉缺乏知识或信心而认为自己没有准备好与患者讨论营养问题。近年来，医学教育越来越认识到生活方式因素对慢性病健康结果的影响以及将饮食相关干预措施纳入患者护理的价值。这种整合要求医生和医疗保健专业人员具备提供营养建议和咨询以改善慢性病管理所需的知识和工具。越来越多的医学院校开始纳入烹饪医学，这是一门基于证据的学科，提供体验式学习方法，以改善学生在营养方面的教育并解决与食物相关的健康社会决定因素。
2023年秋季，佛蒙特大学拉纳医学院（LCOM）为一年级医学生实施了一个烹饪医学试点项目，旨在增加他们的营养知识和咨询技能。该课程由两名获得营养学和综合健康认证的二年级医学生主导和开发，并由获得家庭医学和生活方式医学委员会认证的内科医生提供监督。该项目包括五节课程，每节课程聚焦一种不同的慢性病。每节课包括45分钟的理论课程，随后是45分钟的烹饪医学体验课程。该项目在医学教育教室进行，使用小型电器和低成本食材。通过项目后的调查对试点项目进行评估，该调查测量了感知到的知识、信心以及在临床实践和个人生活中应用所学知识的意愿。
该项目包括26名一年级医学生。项目后的调查显示，86%的受访者同意他们会在未来的临床实践中使用在课程中学到的信息，100%的受访者同意他们会在自己的生活中应用这些知识。91%的受访者表示对饮食与疾病之间的关系有了更深入的理解，95%的受访者表示在提供营养咨询方面，尤其是关于健康的社会决定因素方面，信心有所增强。
这些结果证明了烹饪医学低成本教育模式的益处。它在增加未来医生的营养知识以及提高他们提供有意义的、基于证据的饮食指导的信心方面具有相当大的潜力。
