News

By Ben Boulden 

What used to be a space where people could eat lunch is now a place where people will make lunches and other meals as part of the UAMS Culinary Medicine Program.

On October 5, the program reached a milestone in its brief history as it formally opened its new Culinary Medicine Kitchen to teach and train faculty and students how to prepare healthy, toothsome meals. The kitchen occupies what was formerly a dining area on the first floor of the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging.

Culinary medicine is a new evidence-based field in medicine that blends the art of food and cooking with the science of medicine. Culinary medicine’s goal is to help people make good personal medical decisions about accessing and eating high-quality meals that help prevent and manage chronic disease and restore well-being.

Using a temporary space provided by University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College, the program’s registered dietitian, Margaret Pauly and college of medicine faculties have provided instruction in culinary medicine to 213 students enrolled in one-night interprofessional simulation events or its eight-week courses meeting once per week for the past two years. The course has been open to senior medical students as an elective, and students from the College of Pharmacy and the Physician Assistant Studies program in the College of Health Professions have joined as well. The program has also offered limited employee and community courses with plans to expand.

In the newly renovated space, thanks to generous donors, the program will provide the convenience of on-campus Culinary Medicine Program classes.

“This on-campus teaching is more convenient for students, and we think participation will increase greatly when there isn’t a transportation issue to and from UA-Pulaski Tech,” said Stephanie Gardner, Pharm.D., Ed.D., provost and chief strategy officer. She added that UA-Pulaski Tech has been very accommodating and generous in its support.

The curriculum of the program does not strictly teach a vegetarian lifestyle, but it does place an emphasis on a more heavily plant-based diet of fruits and vegetables, said Gloria Richard-Davis, M.D., the program’s director. The menu is a Mediterranean-based diet, which has been shown to contribute greatly to longevity and heart health, is even known to reverse some cardiovascular disease.

“The reality is we are a very unhealthy society,” Richard-Davis said. “We are trying to make a difference. Arkansas has some of the worst health and nutrition statistics of any state. This program was born out of a passion to teach our students about nutrition, how to prepare healthier meals and hopefully to change their lives. That they will in turn teach our patients another healthier way of life.”

With that in mind, Gina Drobena, M.D., read to the audience at the opening celebration a letter she received from a student who is now an intern in North Carolina. Drobena is the course director  and also an associate professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Pathology.

The student wrote: “I enjoyed the culinary medicine rotation at UAMS last year and want to include it in my practice long-term. I want to start a program here, but I am not sure where to start. Would you mind helping?”

Drobena said the letter is a great example of what the program seeks to accomplish in culinary medicine — students being inspired to take what they learn and use it to teach healthy nutrition and cooking to their patients and colleagues. In the near future, the program hopes to expand instruction to UAMS employees and communities of Arkansas, too, allowing members of the public to sign up for classes.

“I’m so excited about tonight,” Gardner said, gesturing toward the kitchen. “It’s a dream we’ve shared for a couple of years, and we’re eager to have you walk through and see the space where students, faculty, resident and community members will be able to learn more about nutrition and healthy eating.”

Using a curriculum created by Tim Harlan, M.D., at Tulane University’s Goldring Culinary Institute in New Orleans, the program delivers a comprehensive hands-on interactive course.

The program was started with Chancellor Patterson’s vision and support. The seed money for the program was a Chancellor’s Circle grant and it has received several nonprofit grants to support its community outreach programs from the American Cancer Society, Robert Wood Johnson, Arkansas Medical Foundation, Ardmore Institute of Health and recently another Chancellor’s Circle grant. In partnership with community organizations, UAMS will soon launch a program to increase chronic kidney disease awareness focused on decreasing prevalence in the African American community. The Culinary Medicine program also has worked closely with the Mexican Consulate to deliver community programs in Spanish.

Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. and Tonya Johnson, R.D., director of UAMS Nutrition and Hospitality Services, spoke briefly before a ceremonial ribbon-cutting. Johnson also handed out several healthy meal kits to guests to promote the new Fresh & Reddie service the university plans to roll out in January to all UAMS faculty, staff and students.

The Fresh & Reddie program will market inexpensive healthy meal kits with fresh ingredients and easy-to-prepare recipes, using the principles of culinary medicine.

Gloria Ríchard-Davis, M.D., MBA, spoke at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the North American Menopause Society. She educated healthcare providers on using culinary medicine to improve health outcomes in midlife women and offered tips for women on using food as medicine to manage weight and overall health. 

Read the LisaHealth blog post about Food: The Best Medicine for Midlife Women

Download the Powerpoint presentation

We are excited to join the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative, a unique group of medical professionals, chefs, educators, researchers, and food system experts dedicated to the improvement of personal and public health.

Learn more about the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative.

Save the Date: Ribbon cutting ceremony on October 5, 2021 at 5:30 p.m.

The UAMS Culinary Medicine program is moving to a brand newly renovated teaching kitchen in the Reynold’s Institute on Aging at 629 Jack Stephens Dr, Little Rock, AR 72205.

We are excited to be moving into our own space on UAMS campus. This will provide the convenience of on campus classes for our students, faculty and staff. We hope to add community outreach programs and continuing medical education for health care providers.

Look for updates in the coming weeks.

Dr. Gloria Richard-Davis and Dr. Cam Patterson were interviewed in the July 2021 Zest Culinary Medicine Newsletter. Read it on the CulinaryMedicine.org website.

Dr. Gina Drobena will speak about the culinary medicine program and lifestyle medicine at the February 3 meeting of the Little Rock Plant Strong Club.  Get more details on the Plant Club website.

The Culinary Medicine program was featured in the Fall 2019 issue of the UAMS Journal.

 

 

Culinary Medicine: An Ideal Interprofessional Opportunity

Presenter: Gina Drobena, M.D.

CME Credit is available! Click the link below for more information:

https://learnondemand.org/lms/activity?@activity.id=6769399

 

May. 10, 2019 | A group of women gathered inside a commercial kitchen in Little Rock recently for a UAMS-led culinary medicine cooking class.

Culinary medicine is the practice of helping patients use nutrition and good cooking habits to restore and maintain health. UAMS is developing a culinary medicine program for health profession students, but this is the first time a class like this has been offered to the community.

Taria Lightner, who works in UAMS nutritional services, served as the chef for the evening. She is a student at the University of Arkansas – Pulaski Technical College Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute.

Laura Norman, a registered dietitian, also offered her expertise. Norman works with patients in the UAMS Fertility and Reproductive Endocrinology Clinic on Mondays and Tuesdays. She organized meal planning for the class and led nutrition discussions.

Lightner started class with the basics: emphasizing the importance of clean hands and sanitized surfaces. Then she showed the students proper techniques for chopping onions and mincing garlic.

Gloria Richard-Davis, M.D. organized the class as an outreach aimed toward patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal disorder that affects one in 10 women of reproductive age. It is a common and treatable cause of infertility. Richard-Davis is board certified in reproductive endocrinology and infertility. She has been working as director of the culinary medicine program.

Women with PCOS often have higher than normal insulin levels, Richard- Davis said. A diet high in refined carbohydrates can make insulin resistance more difficult to control.

A recent study showed that the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) is beneficial to patients with PCOS. The DASH diet is very similar to the Mediterranean diet, but adapted to American taste.

After the eight students practiced chopping and mincing, they separated into three groups. Each group would make one item on the menu. They prepared white fish with a chimichurri sauce, brown rice pilaf and a roasted vegetable medley.

UAMS has adopted the culinary medicine curriculum created by Timothy Harlan, M.D., executive director of the Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at Tulane University. The Goldring Center, which opened in 2013, is the first culinary medicine center in a U.S. medical school. Since then, several schools across the country have adopted Tulane’s curriculum.

“They licensed their courseware to about 52 academic institutions,” Richard Davis said, “There was a collaborative effort among those academic institutions to do research to understand how to better teach patients the appreciation for food as medicine, or as the curriculum says ‘health meets food.’”

“Good nutrition is important to overall health,” Kaylee Lutrell, APRN, told the class. “When it comes to infertility a healthy diet is an important factor.”

Lutrell works in the fertility and endocrinology clinic with Richard-Davis. The class was one way the clinic commemorated Infertility Awareness Week.

“While a healthy diet won’t solve all infertility, it is certainly an added benefit we want all our patients to practice,” she said.

The amount of rainbow colors on a plate is another good indicator your food is nutritious, Lighten told the class.

Once the fish and vegetables were in the oven, and the rice was simmering on the stove, the women cleaned their prep areas and discussed how they could use their newly acquired knowledge.

Angel Smith of Little Rock, one of the students, lives with PCOS and is a patient of Richard-Davis. Smith has been on a weight loss journey and has changed her eating habits to include more fish and seafood.

“When I found out about this class, I thought it could give me more insight on meal ideas,” she said. “The food turned out wonderfully and has a good flavor.”