Virginia Via Research Day Book 2026

Medical Student Research Education and Simulation

Rebecca El Choueir,y OMS-II; Bhavya Jetty, OMS-II; Indra Kapoor, OMS-II; Sanaa Khan, OMS-II; Corrin Lundquist, OMS-II; Mia Shaban, OMS-II; Ethan Varney, OMS-II; Sarah Misyak, PhD, MPH; Jessica Nicholson, MAT; Bernard Kadio, MD, PhD, MPH Corresponding author: relchoueiry@vcom.edu 11 OSTEOPATHIC MEDICAL EDUCATION AND FOOD AS MEDICINE: DEVELOPING AN EVIDENCE-BASED CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR COLLABORATION WITH FOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

VCOM-Virginia, Blacksburg, Virginia

Through the lens of holistic osteopathic philosophy, current osteopathic medicine curricula emphasize education on preventive health and maintenance of a healthy lifestyle. However, nutrition education is often underemphasized, and students have a limited understanding of how to use nutrition education as a tool in patient care. Food As Medicine is a newer initiative within the nutrition community that focuses on implementing nutrition as a preventive health adjunct. The Virginia Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed), a USDA funded nutrition education program delivered through Virginia Cooperative Extension, also focused on professional development for key professions in

the state that have the capacity to promote health. At the time of this research, their focus was on intervention and while their community-based nutrition education was impactful, improving healthcare provider knowledge would have reinforced their goals for moving towards a prevention-based approach. Despite the defunding of SNAP-Ed at the national level, a partnership between osteopathic medical schools and similar Cooperative Extension programs has the potential to be fortuitous, but such a partnership has never been attempted before. After examining the current landscape of the integration of nutrition into medical school curricula as well as current Food As Medicine programming directed towards healthcare

professionals, we are proposing a framework for a Food As Medicine Certificate program for osteopathic medical students 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 so that students are competent and equipped to deliver Food As Medicine counseling within their scope of practice as future osteopathic physicians.

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167 2026 Research Recognition Day