1. 'Zoom'ing to the Kitchen: A Novel Approach to Virtual Nutrition Education for Medical Trainees
- Author
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Justin A. Charles, Nathan I. Wood, Stephanie Neary, Jorge O. Moreno, Lindsey Scierka, Benjamin Brink, Xiwen Zhao, and Katherine A. Gielissen
- Subjects
teaching kitchen ,culinary medicine ,cooking ,plant-based diet ,food ,nutrition ,Nutrition. Foods and food supply ,TX341-641 - Abstract
While nutritional interventions are first-line therapy for many chronic diseases, most medical trainees receive minimal nutrition education, leaving them unprepared to address nutritional issues with patients. An interactive, single-session, virtual nutrition curriculum was taught online to 80 physician assistant (PA) students. Topics included plant-based nutrition, dietary history-taking and counseling, and culinary medicine. Students were surveyed before, immediately after, and four weeks after the curriculum to assess changes to nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes, confidence, and personal dietary behaviors. Seventy-three PA students (91%) completed the pre-survey, 76 (95%) completed the post-survey, and 42 (52.5%) completed the delayed post-survey. Knowledge scores increased immediately post-intervention (48.9% to 78.9%; p < 0.001) and persisted four weeks later (78.9% to 75.8%; p = 0.54). Post-intervention, students felt more confident in dietary history-taking (55% vs. 95%; p = 0.001) and nutrition counseling (53% vs. 84%; p = 0.003) and agreed that dietary changes alone could reverse type 2 diabetes (74% vs. 97%; p = 0.027) and coronary artery disease (66% vs. 92%; p = 0.039). Curricula using virtual teaching kitchens may be a scalable approach to nutrition education for medical trainees.
- Published
- 2023
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