CORE Posters Fall 2025

Food As Medicine Certification for DO Students? Developing a Conceptual Framework El Choueiry, R., Jetty, B., Kapoor, I., Khan, S., Lundquist, C., Shaban, M., Varney, E., Misyak, S. PhD, MPH, Nicholson, J. MAT, Kadio, B. MD, PhD, MPH Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine – Virginia Campus, Department of Preventive Medicine, Blacksburg, Virginia

Team J

Next Steps

Framework

Abstract/Introduction

➢ Initiate a Food as Medicine Certificate Program at VCOM VA and assess efficacy for improving student understanding. ➢ After the graduation of the first participating class, assess community response to physicians trained in nutrition. ➢ Assess the health needs of the community and adjust the program according to those needs. ➢ Expand the program to other osteopathic medical schools.

➢ The framework is based on six competencies that encompass both foundational knowledge and knowledge application. (Figure 1) ➢ Students who complete these competencies will be eligible for the Food as Medicine certificate. ➢ This longitudinal project involves both a short-term education component and a long-term community benefit component. (Figure 2)

➢ Nutrition education has historically been underemphasized as a clinical tool in medical schools. In the past, awards have been created to encourage integration of nutrition in medical school curriculums. 4 ➢ Culinary medicine has emerged as the newest prototype for nutrition integration and has been implemented in several medical schools. However, this method lacks evidence on contributing to long term improved patient care outcomes. 3 ➢ Food as Medicine principles have demonstrated success in improving quantitative measures of chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus and obesity. 2 ➢ Food As Medicine is an initiative that focuses on implementing nutrition as a preventive health adjunct. ➢ The Virginia Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) was a USDA-funded nutrition education program delivered through the Virginia Cooperative Extension. It focused on nutrition education for professions that have the capacity to promote health throughout the state. However, there was no link to medical professionals . ➢ A partnership between osteopathic medical schools and similar Cooperative Extension programs has the potential to be impactful in addressing this gap , but it has never been attempted before. ➢ We are proposing a framework for a Food As Medicine Certificate Program as a collaboration between food assistance programs and osteopathic medical schools. ➢ Our goals for the program are to provide both foundational knowledge and experiential learning , as well as improve long-term health outcomes in the community. Background

References

1. Downer S, Berkowitz SA, Harlan TS, Olstad DL, Mozaffarian D. Food is medicine: actions to integrate food and nutrition into healthcare. BMJ. 2020;369:m2482. Published 2020 Jun 29. doi:10.1136/bmj.m2482 2. Greenway, F. L., Rao, et al, & Neiman, et al. (2020, September 2). Food as Medicine for Chronic disease: A Strategy to Address Non Compliance. Journal of Medicinal Food. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7480765/ 3. Tan, J., Atamanchuk, L., Rao, T., Sato, K., Crowley, J., & Ball, L. (2022). Exploring culinary medicine as a promising method of nutritional education in medical school: a scoping review. BMC medical education, 22(1), 441. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909 022-03449-w 4. Van Horn L. (2006). The Nutrition Academic Award: brief history, overview, and legacy. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 83(4), 936S – 940S. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/83.4.936S 5. Fruit images: Flaticon.com

Figure 1. Food as Medicine education framework components. Each of these competencies is essential to understanding and applying Food As Medicine concepts into clinical practice.

Figure 2. Interconnection between VCOM-VA, the Virginia Cooperative Extension, and the Blacksburg community. As a result of the collaboration between VCOM-VA and the Virginia Cooperative Extension, the Blacksburg community will benefit from increased access to nutrition education.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank:

➢ Dr. Misyak and the Virginia Cooperative Extension team ➢ Dr. Kadio and Ms. Nicholson for guiding us throughout this project ➢ VCOM-VA

We will work with the Finance Office at VCOM to ensure the program meets all requirements.