- ACLM launches free Culinary Medicine Program (CMP) and updated Curriculum (CMC) to bridge the long-standing nutrition education gap among healthcare professionals.
- Developed under Dr. Michelle Hauser of Stanford University, the program offers 115 video lessons and a full teaching kit integrating nutrition science with real-world cooking skills.
- The open-source initiative, supported by Soul Food Salon, aims to make healthy cooking accessible to clinicians, medical students, and the public, empowering better patient care through practical nutrition education.
The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) has introduced a free Culinary Medicine Program (CMP) and revised Culinary Medicine Curriculum (CMC), filling the critical nutrition education hole that has existed for physicians and other healthcare providers. Combined, the open-source materials offer close to 15 hours of self-guided video training and a full teaching kit that educates clinicians, trainee clinicians, and individuals on the integration of optimal nutrition into everyday eating habits.
Beneath 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 culinary medicine education leader recognized nationally. Dr. Hauser, who graduated from medical school and residency at Harvard Medical School, has instructed thousands of clinicians and educators in how to take nutritional science and apply it to real-world skills.
"Culinary medicine is about bringing the science of nutrition into day-to-day life" said Dr. Hauser. "By teaching healthcare professionals both the knowledge and practical skills of preparing healthy meals, we can empower patients to go from advice to action and that's where true health transformation begins".
The CMP features 115 separate video lessons ranging from knife skills and the basics of meal preparation to plant-dominant recipes and lower-calorie versions of comfort foods aimed at making healthy cooking easy and tasty. They can be combined with the curriculum to assist clinicians in educating patients or utilized as a solo by those wanting to promote their own cooking and nutrition capabilities. Development of the program was partially funded by Jeanne Rosner, MD, and Soul Food Salon.
The revised second edition of the CMC includes an instructor's manual, recipes, shopping guides, and equipment checklists designed for medical schools, residency programs, and community teaching kitchens. It enlarges the first edition for clinicians to utilize with patients, for clinician educators to educate those in training, and even for those already in practice to continue improving their skills/learning in this domain. The curriculum includes fundamental nutrition education and patient counseling techniques that are not typically part of medical training, and how to leverage resources whether it is a teaching kitchen or simply a small lecture hall to instruct culinary medicine. The first edition of the curriculum, which ACLM released open-source in 2019, has already been utilized in over 100 countries and downloaded over 13,000 times.
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"Our intention was to make something useful, adaptable, and inspiring so whether you're a doctor, med student, or just someone who wants to prepare healthier at home, these tools greet you where you are", said Dr. Hauser. "That accessibility is the essence of culinary medicine. It is key to get people to understand that healthy eating doesn't have to be complicated, pricey, or inaccessible".
The initiative and new curriculum rollout are timely, as nationwide concern is growing about the lack of nutrition education in healthcare clinicians and medical schools. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently mandated that groups responsible for medical education provide documents outlining the extent, measurable milestones and accountability provisions of their nutritional education efforts.
"What is special about the Culinary Medicine Program and Culinary Medicine Curriculum is how it combines the pleasure and enjoyment of eating with making a conscious decision to support and enhance your health", explained Christopher Gardner, PhD, director of Nutrition Studies at Stanford Prevention Research Center and Rehnborg Farquhar Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. "By combining fundamental cooking techniques with sound evidence-based recommendations, it empowers both patients and clinicians with the tools they need to revolutionize health at the very basic level through unapologetically tasty food to eat on a daily basis".
