Dr. Kelsey Sicker is a new graduate from The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Kelsey’s interest and involvement in advocating for Culinary Medicine to be a part of medical education has helped strengthen the partnerships between Local Matters and area medical institutions. Kelsey and two classmates have led the development of a podcast series, “Bite-Sized Medicine,” that brings some of the lessons they have learned through Culinary Medicine programming to life.

This piece is from Kelsey and provides some context for the podcast “Bite-Sized Medicine.” Enjoy!

Nutrition and more specifically, cooking, are not prominent topics in medical education, despite being a known modifiable risk factor for many of the leading causes of disease and death in the United States. This includes heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and more. As part of an initiative to improve physician education on the topic of cooking, Local Matters has partnered with multiple institutions in Columbus, including The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and Mount Carmel Health System to teach medical trainees healthful cooking through a program called Culinary Medicine (specifically, Tulane University’s Health Meets Food Curriculum1).

Culinary Medicine includes structured lecture and reading materials that highlight important dietary recommendations for specific health concerns and applies that information to hands-on cooking lessons. This combination makes the scientific nutrition applicable to eating real food. Local Matters chefs and volunteers make the hands-on lessons possible for numerous medical trainees in Columbus, ultimately helping physicians better guide patients with regard to making healthy dietary changes. As an additional benefit, students and physicians gain comfort in their own cooking skills in order to better care for themselves which also maximizes their ability to take care of others!

After partnering with Local Matters and volunteering with the Culinary Medicine classes for a few years, 2 medical students and a dietetics student felt strongly that this information was vital for all medical students and physicians. They noted that there were common questions and comments that resonated particularly strongly over and over with each round of classes. As a result, this team of students started a podcast called Bite-Sized Medicine that discusses the most important evidence-based information and breaks down how to talk about it with patients in a way that is meaningful and efficient. Each episode is less than 10 minutes and focuses on one specific health topic. Check out the Bite-Sized Medicine podcast (available on most platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts) to learn about applicable ways to incorporate healthy dietary recommendations and catch a glimpse of the work with which Local Matters has been involved!

1. Tulane University, Health Meets Food Curriculum, https://culinarymedicine.org/

VOICES FROM THE GROUND