A Culinary Medicine Elective Course Incorporating Lifestyle Medicine for Medical Students

As medical schools work to train the next generation of providers, including robust content in nutrition education is paramount. The National Academy of Sciences sets the benchmark for 25 hours of nutrition education in medical schools, though many schools do not meet this requirement. Usually, nutrition lectures in medical schools are given in the pre-clinical years and focus on biochemistry and micronutrients. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a unique opportunity to quickly develop and implement an elective course for 3rd and 4th year medical students at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. A course was created in lifestyle medicine and culinary medicine, and all were delivered remotely through Zoom. This course would be simple to replicate at other institutions and was very well received. This article will describe more of the resources, methods, and reactions to this course.

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Culinary Medicine Training in Core Medical School Curriculum Improved Medical Student Nutrition Knowledge and Confidence in Providing Nutrition Counseling

American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine ◽

10.1177/15598276211021749 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 155982762110217

Author(s):

Christopher R. D’Adamo ◽

Kayli Workman ◽

Christine Barnabic ◽

Norman Retener ◽

Bernadette Siaton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Student ◽

Medical Students ◽

Medical School ◽

Patient Care ◽

School Curriculum ◽

Nutrition Knowledge ◽

Medical School Curriculum ◽

Nutrition Counseling ◽

Patient Counseling ◽

Culinary Medicine

Background: Elective culinary medicine education has become popular to help fill important gaps in physician nutrition training. The implementation and outcomes among the inaugural cohort of medical students who received culinary medicine training as a required component of medical school curriculum at the University of Maryland School of Medicine are described. Methods: Following a series of elective pilot sessions, culinary medicine training was provided to all first-year medical students in the 2019-2020 academic year. The 3-hour training included evidence-based nutrition lecture, cooking simple recipes, and group discussion of the application to personal and patient care. Pre-/postsession questionnaires assessed nutrition knowledge, skills, and attitudes as well as nutritional counseling confidence. Paired t-tests estimated mean differences in outcomes pre- and posttraining. Qualitative data were subjected to thematic analysis. Results: Overall, 119 of 125 (95.2%) students provided pre- and posttraining outcomes data. All nutritional and patient counseling outcomes improved ( P < .05). Themes of being better prepared to address healthy eating barriers in patient care and personal ability to make healthy dietary changes were noted in qualitative analysis. Conclusion: One session of culinary medicine training in core medical student curriculum was feasible and improved medical student nutrition knowledge, skills, and attitudes and confidence in patient nutrition counseling.

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Have Lifestyle Habits and Psychological Well-Being Changed among Adolescents and Medical Students Due to COVID-19 Lockdown in Croatia?

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu13010097 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 97

Author(s):

Ružica Dragun ◽

Nikolina Nika Veček ◽

Mario Marendić ◽

Ajka Pribisalić ◽

Gabrijela Đivić ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Perceived Stress ◽

Dietary Habits ◽

Healthy Lifestyle ◽

Well Being ◽

Lifestyle Medicine ◽

Psychological Well Being ◽

Mobile Phone Use ◽

Beneficial Effects

Objective: To investigate dietary habits, sleep and psychological well-being of adolescents and medical students during COVID-19 lockdown in Split, Croatia. Methods: We surveyed 1326 students during 2018 and 2019, and compared their responses with 531 students enrolled in May 2020. Perceived stress, quality of life (QoL), happiness, anxiety, and optimism were assessed as proxies of psychological well-being, using general linear modelling. Results: We found no substantial differences in dietary pattern between pre-lockdown and lockdown periods, including the overall Mediterranean diet (MD) adherence. However, the MD pattern changed, showing increased adherence to the MD pyramid for fruit, legumes, fish, and sweets, while cereals, nuts, and dairy intake decreased during COVID-19 lockdown. A third of students reported weight loss during lockdown, 19% reported weight gain, while physical activity remained rather stable. The most prominent change was feeling refreshed after a night’s sleep, reported by 31.5% of students during lockdown vs. 8.5% before; median length of sleep duration increased by 1.5 h. Lockdown significantly affected QoL, happiness, optimism (all p < 0.001), and perceived stress in students (p = 0.005). MD adherence was positively correlated with QoL and study time, and negatively with TV and mobile phone use in pre-lockdown period (all p < 0.001). Interestingly, higher MD adherence was correlated with less perceived hardship and greater happiness and QoL during lockdown. Conclusion: These insights provide valuable information for tailored interventions aimed at maintaining healthy lifestyle in young population. Given the numerous beneficial effects associated with MD adherence, modification of lifestyle through application of lifestyle medicine deserves a priority approach.

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Lifestyle Medicine and Sleep Quality in Medical Students

Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Humana ◽

10.25176/rfmh.v21i2.3716 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 465-467

Author(s):

Fiorella Rosemary Allende-Rayme ◽

Jeremi Harold Acuña-Vila ◽

Juan Carlos Ezequiel Roque ◽

Lucy E. Correa-López

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Sleep Quality ◽

Lifestyle Medicine

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Educating medical students about adolescent maltreatment

International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health ◽

10.1515/ijamh-2013-0066 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 301-308 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Michele Knox ◽

Heather Pelletier ◽

Victor Vieth

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Comparison Group ◽

Child And Adolescent ◽

First Year ◽

Child Advocacy ◽

Adolescent Maltreatment ◽

Elective Course ◽

Multidisciplinary Group ◽

First Year Medical Students

Abstract The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of training first year medical students using a Child Advocacy Studies Training (CAST) elective course. The 9-month course was taught by a multidisciplinary group of professionals and addressed prevention, identification, reporting, and responding to all forms of child and adolescent maltreatment. It was hypothesized that, relative to students in a comparison group, students who completed the elective course would report being significantly more prepared to identify signs of maltreatment, to report a case of suspected maltreatment, and to recommend or secure needed services for a maltreated child or adolescent, more likely to report suspected maltreatment, even if they did not know for sure it happened, and demonstrate improved knowledge in the areas of maltreatment identification and reporting. Results supported all five of the study’s hypotheses and indicate that the CAST program may be an effective method of better preparing future physicians to address child and adolescent maltreatment.

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Introducing Climate Change to Medical Students

Teaching Health Humanities ◽

10.1093/med/9780190636890.003.0014 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 230-242

Author(s):

David Kline ◽

Thomas R. Cole ◽

Susan Pacheco

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Medical Students ◽

Professional Training ◽

Health Science ◽

Short Paper ◽

Science Center ◽

University Of Texas ◽

Elective Course ◽

Texas Health ◽

The University

This chapter discusses using a broad humanities perspective to teach medical students about climate change. It argues that the humanities can recover a more robust approach to bioethics and serve as a bridge between students’ professional training and their own spiritual and moral convictions. The chapter describes a short elective course taught to first- and second-year students at the McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. It concludes with a class exercise in which students read the Physician Charter and write a short paper that takes one commitment from the charter and applies it to climate change.

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