Work

A pre-clerkship culinary medicine elective: an integrated student-led initiative

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Background Evidence shows that diet impacts health and quality of life, yet many physicians lack the knowledge and confidence to incorporate nutrition into disease prevention and management. Culinary medicine is a novel field that integrates food and cooking with medical science. An elective was developed by and for pre-clerkship medical students to equip future physicians with skills to apply culinary medicine to practice. Methods The elective consisted of six modules, each with a lecture from dietitians, nutrition researchers, or physicians, with an accompanying hands-on cooking session. Survey methodology and cost analysis were used to assess the acceptability and feasibility of the elective for pre-clerkship medical students. Student participants were surveyed before and after the elective on dietary habits and perceptions of nutrition in medicine. Participants were also surveyed after each module for content and delivery feedback. Student attendance was tracked for each lecture and cooking session. Presenters were surveyed to assess their experience with creating and presenting content and suggestions for strengthening the elective for future iterations. Direct costs (actual dollar expenditures) were tracked throughout elective setup and delivery. Indirect costs were measured as the number of hours dedicated by the entire team to various aspects of the elective. Results Students found the content relevant and practical, both personally and clinically. Cooking sessions encouraged social interaction and experimentation with new ingredients and equipment. Attendance remained high throughout the majority of the sessions. Presenter feedback informed the refinement of the elective, including curriculum alignment and student engagement. Actual expenses for the elective were 40% lower than initially projected, with 46.5% allocated to ingredients. Conclusions The successful first two iterations of a novel pre-clerkship culinary medicine elective demonstrated the feasibility of a student-led initiative to improve culinary medicine education in a Canadian medical school. This well-received model will be used to garner faculty support for more nutrition programming and inspire implementation of similar programs at other medical schools.

Source: BMC Medical Education

DOI: 10.1186/s12909-026-10105-0