Creating Teams of Family Medicine Residents and High School Culinary Students Reduces Some Barriers to Implementing a Culinary Medicine Hands-On Workshop

Kay Craven; Kathryn M Kolasa; Brittany Smith; Shiann Kramer

doi:10.1007/s40670-023-01773-4

Creating Teams of Family Medicine Residents and High School Culinary Students Reduces Some Barriers to Implementing a Culinary Medicine Hands-On Workshop

Med Sci Educ. 2023 Mar 18;33(2):369-374. doi: 10.1007/s40670-023-01773-4. eCollection 2023 Apr.

Authors

Kay Craven¹, Kathryn M Kolasa¹, Brittany Smith¹, Shiann Kramer²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family Medicine, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, 3080 Dartmouth Drive, Greenville, NC 27858 USA.
² Department of Nutrition Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC USA.

Abstract

Background: Barriers to implementation of culinary medicine in resident training include lack of facilities, administrative support, and community engagement.

Activity: Twenty-five family medicine residents were teamed with 17 high school culinary arts students to prepare recipes aligned with the Mediterranean diet (MED) and the USDA low, moderate, and liberal cost food plans.

Results: The workshop took place in the high school teaching kitchens. A pre-survey informed the planning committee's design of a 4-h hands-on workshop that was considered a success.

Discussion: Post-surveys documented improved resident confidence and skills in recommending MED to their patients and interaction with their own peers and high school students, as well as enjoyment by all participants of this hands-on approach.

Keywords: Affordable healthy food; Barriers to inclusion in curriculum; Culinary medicine; Cultural competence and humility; Graduate medical education; Mediterranean diet; Residency training.