The American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) has released a new continuing medical education (CME) course on culinary medicine, the clinical practice of helping patients use nutrition and good cooking habits to restore and maintain health.

The online course—now available for 1.5 CME as an elective of the Lifestyle Medicine Core Competencies Program for physicians and clinicians—provides a “food is medicine” perspective and examines what patients face day-to-day when trying to make substantive lifestyle changes.

Featured are recipes and cooking techniques that follow a high fiber plant-based diet and are achievable with low income to moderate budgets and amid time constraints. Participants are instructed to practice the culinary methods themselves and use their experience to counsel and empower patients to make and sustain healthier choices when shopping and preparing meals.

In addition to the course, recipes and instructional videos have been made available for all medical professionals and their patients. These resources are helpful for patients who want to start cooking healthy meals at home and need clear examples and demonstrations.

Made possible by a grant from the Ardmore Institute of Health, the course was developed by Rani Polak, MD, Chef, MBA, founding director of the CHEF Coaching Program at the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, along with Liana Lianov, MD, MPH, FACPM, faculty director of the Lifestyle Medicine Core Competency Curriculum and former board member of ACPM and ACLM.

For more information, visit www.acpm.org.