Culinary medicine: experience report of an elective course for Medical students

Abstract

Introduction: The global increase in unhealthy eating is closely linked to a downward trend in food preparation at home. There are studies showing a positive association between increased cooking skills and reduced cardiovascular risk. In addition, the little time devoted to nutrition education in the curriculum of medical schools contrasts with the high mortality rates attributable to poor diet. Culinary Medicine (CM) is an emerging field of Medicine, which brings a new educational approach, based on scientific evidence, whose objective is to teach the power that food has on health and to improve the eating behaviors of healthcare professionals and, consequently, of their patients. Experience report: An elective discipline of CM was developed at Unifesp, which resulted in a descriptive study with a qualitative approach, carried out with 18 students who participated in weekly meetings during 5 weeks of training. The meetings were carried out 100% online, through the Zoom platform. Data from this study were collected through portfolios, in which each student described their experience with the course. The analysis of the material was carried out through thematic analysis. A questionnaire was applied to evaluate the Culinary Skills Index developed and validated according to self-efficacy in the performance of culinary skills and having as theoretical reference the Dietary Guideline for the Brazilian Population. Discussion: There are numerous challenges such as the physicians’ awareness about the importance of this approach, which often seems to be more practical than technical, and the subjectivity of the topic on changing the behavior of physicians and patients. However, the results of this study show that the students who took the elective course believe that this curricular reformulation is extremely important and urgent. Conclusion: There is a worldwide transformation trend in the curriculum of healthcare professionals, and it is believed that this process can be initiated in medical schools through elective courses in Culinary Medicine, such as the one implemented at Unifesp.