Culinary Medicine Elective: Cooking Up Health

This course is designed for students with a genuine interest in the role of nutrition in health.

This elective is approved for credit by the Feinberg School of Medicine Curriculum Committee and is open to Feinberg M3 and M4 medical students, as well as McGaw residents and fellows.

No prior cooking experience is required. Culinary sessions focus on whole-food, plant-forward cooking and welcome students with a variety of dietary preferences, including vegan, vegetarian and omnivorous diets.

Enrollment is limited to 12 students per session. If enrollment requests exceed available spots, priority will be given to students who can attend all sessions and demonstrate genuine interest in the course content. Spots are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

The course runs from Feb. 15–26, 2027, for the 2026–27 academic year. 

The course meets Monday through Friday, generally from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with occasional evening sessions. 

Culinary medicine molds culinary concepts and medical education into a hands-on interdisciplinary experience. This elective will provide future clinicians with a knowledge base of diet, lifestyle and nutrition and how they relate to disease. The purpose of the course is to increase medical student performance in core competencies, such as counseling patients with dietary concerns and to teach nutrition as it relates to diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension and autoimmune disorders. Students will utilize kitchen tools, explore plant-based meals and the use of substitute ingredients, discuss behavior change strategies regarding diet with patients, and incorporate healthy behaviors into both their personal lives and medical practice. It is expected that working in a teaching kitchen will foster students' comfort with cooking nutritious meals that they can share with their patients. 

Objectives 

By the end of the elective, participants will be able to: 

• Integrate nutrition into patient-centered and disease-specific care. 
• Counsel patients on healthy eating, meal planning and behavior change.
• Develop practical culinary skills that support healthy cooking and lifestyle habits.
• Recognize the role of nutrition in preventing and managing chronic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
• Address barriers that influence dietary choices.
• Apply patient-centered approaches to nutrition counseling that respect individual values, preferences and barriers.

Daily instruction combines:

• Self-directed readings, videos, case-based modules and assignments
• Faculty-led sessions and small-group discussions
• Hands-on culinary medicine experiences centered on plant-forward cooking
• Clinical observation with registered dietitians
• Community-based learning experiences

Throughout the elective, participants build foundational culinary skills while exploring the relationship between food, nutrition and chronic disease. Topics include behavior change, meal planning, grocery shopping, cultural influences on food and practical approaches to nutrition counseling.

Community Experiences

Beyond the classroom, trainees participate in a variety of experiential learning opportunities, including:

• Hands-on cooking sessions with chef-guided instruction in knife skills, meal preparation and plant-forward cooking
• Field trips with community-based nutrition organizations addressing food insecurity and food-as-medicine initiatives in Chicago
• Co-teaching Common Threads partnership, teaching nutrition and cooking concepts to Chicago-area elementary school students
• Registered dietitian shadowing to observe nutrition care in clinical practice

Students anticipating any absences should discuss them with the course director before the elective begins.

Per Feinberg Medical Student Policy, students may request:

• Up to two days from a two-week elective to participate in interviews for the residency match only.

Students exceeding these limits because of illness, family emergency, residency interviews or university holidays may not receive elective credit.

Because this is a graded medical school elective, full attendance and active participation are expected.

Students are evaluated on:

• Attendance and participation
• Completion of required pre-work and assignments
• Participation in cooking sessions and service-learning activities
• Completion of course reflections, surveys and self-assessments

The 2026–27 course is led by faculty from the Osher Center for Integrative Health:

• Melinda R. Ring, MD, FACP, ABOIM
• Anna Balabanova Shannahan, MD
• Lori Walsh, MD

Guest faculty and community partners also contribute to the educational experience.