5 Osher Centers, One Mission: A Multi-Institutional Programmatic Comparison of Culinary Medicine Health Professional Training
Stephanie M. White, Melinda Ring, Anna B. Shannahan, Karen C. Westervelt, Traci Thompson, Theresa Dvorak, Teresa K. Glynn, Laura S. RedwineBackground
Transforming the health care system to a whole health model is a critical mission of the Osher Collaborative. This transformation will take a multifaceted approach, including changes to the education of the next generation of health care providers. One of these changes is the inclusion of culinary medicine in the curriculum.
Objective
By exploring and comparing culinary medicine education programs for health professionals across five Osher Centers that share a philosophy of integrative health, this research sought to identify common themes and practical innovations that can inform the development and scalability of culinary medicine models for health professionals.
Methods
This multi-method study used a structured 22-item survey to characterize culinary medicine curricula for health professional education at each surveyed Osher Center. The authors compiled the responses to explore commonalities and distinctions across sites using descriptive quantitative methods to summarize program structures and formats. A subset of authors then thematically grouped the open-ended responses using qualitative descriptive thematic analysis. Narrative program descriptions served as qualitative case exemplars to illuminate characteristics between sites.
Results
Data show culinary medicine programs across the five Osher Centers target numerous academic audiences within health professions, indicating a need for curricula that expose health professionals throughout their educational journey. While program duration and modalities vary, all emphasize experiential learning, interprofessional teaching teams, and translation of nutrition knowledge into practical, patient-centered skills focused on whole-person health.
Conclusion
The culinary medicine programs developed alongside the Osher Collaborative’s mission for whole health transformation offer a model that prioritizes measurable outcomes in nutrition and lifestyle education and are aligned with key elements identified in recent scoping reviews of culinary medicine education within medical schools. This strategy equips future health professionals with evidence-based skills to advance prevention and whole-person care while expanding effective, sustainable practices across clinical and community settings.