A course developed by students in the Larner College of Medicine (LCOM) to teach fellow students about nutritional interventions for chronic disease was the sole project selected to receive 2024 Frymoyer Scholars funding. The project, titled “A Multimodal Approach to Bridging Gaps in Nutrition Education: A Culinary Medicine Experience,” aims to develop medical students’ aptitude in nutrition and meal preparation to be able to guide future patients toward healthy food choices in the context of social determinants of health and food access.
Individuals selected as Frymoyer Scholars are awarded up to $25,000 a year for two years to develop innovative educational products or programs and/or to improve their teaching skills and in turn the relationship between clinician and patient.
The scholarship team includes Osher Affiliate Whitney Calkins, M.D., assistant professor of family medicine; Class of 2026 students Molly Hurd, Sarah Krumholz, and Alyssa Tenney; and Osher Affiliate Christina Vollbrecht, chef educator on the Culinary Medicine team at the UVM Medical center.
The funding will allow the scholars to integrate nutrition and culinary information into the LCOM curriculum and provide future doctors the skills, confidence, and language needed to discuss nutrition and food access within patient care settings, using a culinary medicine approach—a key component to integrative healthcare.
The Osher Center's Culinary Medicine arm is led by R Leah Pryor, Executive Chef Manager, Nutrition Services, and Co-Founder of the University of Vermont Medical Center's Culinary Medicine Program.
Read more about this Culinary Medicine project's origins, remarkable success, and promising future.