Incorporating nutrition education through applied, hands‐on culinary elective in medical school training (1020.2)

The purpose of this study is to develop four culinary/nutrition education focused courses offered to 20 medical students at WVU School of Medicine using a similar successful approach taken by Harvard Medical School’s “Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives” program. Despite the importance of nutrition in preventing obesity‐related diseases, most medical schools lack a nutritional component in their curriculum. A recent study showed that only 27% of 103 medical schools provided the minimum 25 hours of nutritional courses recommended by the National Academy of Sciences. Moreover, many medical students incorrectly answer questions regarding nutrition and frequently admit to personal poor dietary habits. Most patients trust their physicians as their primary source of health information, and physician’s advice is often correlated with patient’s lifestyle changes, showing that physicians are in the key position to change dietary habits in the population. This research will focus on the student reported self‐efficacy, user‐friendly patient approach and information and their personal use of applying this information. If successful, this course may serve as a model for integrating nutrition into medical school curriculum. With the importance diet has on health, physicians must be equipped to provide nutritional prescriptions, educating their patients on how to gain control over their health. Grant Funding Source : WVU Experimental Station Hatch Funding