New open-source American College of Lifestyle Medicine program brings culinary skills and nutrition education into medicine

New open-source American College of Lifestyle Medicine program brings culinary skills and nutrition education into medicine

Dr. Michelle Hauser of Stanford University School of Medicine created a program that features almost 15 hours of video instruction on cooking skills, kitchen knowledge and healthy, delicious recipes. The resources are accompanied by a curriculum for clinicians or can be used independently by individuals who want to improve their nutrition. 

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) has launched a complimentary Culinary Medicine Program (CMP) and updated Culinary Medicine Curriculum (CMC), addressing the long-standing gap in nutrition education for physicians and other healthcare professionals. Together, the open-source resources provide nearly 15 hours of self-paced video instruction and a comprehensive teaching toolkit that prepares clinicians, clinicians in training, and individuals to incorporate optimal nutrition into daily eating patterns.

At the center of both resources is Stanford University School of Medicine Clinical Associate Professor and Obesity Medicine Director and ACLM President-Elect Michelle Hauser, MD, MS, MPA, FACP, FACLM, DipABLM, Chef, a nationally recognized leader in culinary medicine education. Dr. Hauser, who completed medical school and residency at Harvard Medical School, has trained thousands of clinicians and educators on how to translate nutritional science into practical skills.

 

“Culinary medicine is about making the science of nutrition accessible in everyday life,” Dr. Hauser said. “By equipping healthcare professionals with both the knowledge and the hands-on skills to prepare healthy meals, we can help patients move from advice to action — and that’s where real health transformation begins.”

The CMP includes 115 individual video lessons—covering everything from knife skills and meal prep basics to plant-predominant recipes and healthier versions of comfort foods—designed to make healthy cooking manageable and delicious. These videos can be paired with the curriculum to help clinicians teach patients or used as a stand-alone by individuals seeking to enhance their own cooking and nutrition skills. The program’s development was supported in part by Jeanne Rosner, MD, and Soul Food Salon.

The updated second edition of the CMC features an instructor’s guide, recipes, shopping guides, and equipment checklists tailored for medical schools, residency training, and community teaching kitchens. It expands the first edition for clinicians to use with patients, for clinician educators to teach those in training, and even for those in practice to enhance their skills/learning in this area. The curriculum covers essential nutrition education and patient counseling skills that often aren’t included in medical education, and how to utilize available resources–whether that is a teaching kitchen or just a small lecture hall–to teach culinary medicine. The curriculum’s first edition, which ACLM made available open-source in 2019, has already been used in more than 100 countries and downloaded more than 13,000 times.

“Our goal was to create something practical, flexible, and inspiring—so whether you’re a physician, medical student, or simply someone who wants to cook healthier at home, these resources meet you where you are,” Dr. Hauser said. “That accessibility is the heart of culinary medicine. It is important to help people discover that healthy eating doesn’t have to be complicated, expensive, or out of reach.”

The program and updated curriculum launch come at a pivotal moment, as national attention increasingly focuses on the lack of nutrition training among healthcare clinicians and in medical schools. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently required medical education organizations to submit materials detailing the scope, measurable milestones and accountability measures of their nutrition education commitments.

“What makes the Culinary Medicine Program and Culinary Medicine Curriculum so unique is the way it unites the joy and pleasure of eating with choosing to support and optimize your health,” By combining basic culinary techniques with solid evidence-based guidance, it gives both clinicians and patients the tools they need to transform health at the most fundamental level through unapologetically delicious food to eat every day.”

About ACLM®

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) is the nation’s medical professional society advancing the field of lifestyle medicine as the foundation of a redesigned, value-based and equitable healthcare delivery system, essential to achieving the Quintuple Aim and whole-person health. ACLM represents, advocates for, trains, certifies, and equips its members to identify and eradicate the root cause of chronic disease by optimizing modifiable risk factors. ACLM is filling the gaping void of lifestyle medicine in medical education, providing more than 1.2 million hours of lifestyle medicine education to physicians and other health professionals since 2004, while also advancing research, clinical practice and reimbursement strategies.

 

 

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