A Medical School Tied to an Integrated Healthcare System Teaches Tomorrow’s Healers Culinary Medicine
Opened in 2020, the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine is a four-year medical school built to provide a world-class medical education that ignites a passion for learning, a desire to serve, and an unwavering commitment to improve the health and well-being of patients and communities. Graduates will be a diverse community of compassionate healers, lifelong learners, and courageous leaders of change within the profession and in society. They will have the skills, capabilities, and resilience to lead the transformation of healthcare delivery in the nation and a lifelong commitment to the highest values of the profession.
Students in their third and fourth year will have the opportunity to select a Culinary Medicine elective, which combines the art of cooking with evidence-based science and nutrition to maintain and improve health. Students are expected to watch videos, read assigned literature on culinary techniques and nutrition topics prior to each session, so that they will be prepared for hands-on learning. This elective is based on several practical, hands-on components, including a Healthy Cooking Laboratory where students will cook in weekly sessions and will learn to prepare flavorful meals from diverse cultures by using a wide range of predominantly whole, plant-based ingredients, and learn about food insecurity.
Students will think broadly about the ways that healthy eating can be more effective for everyone and learn how to advocate for better health in homes, school, workplaces, neighborhoods, and society at large. The school plans to incorporate many of the most innovative and effective educational practices available today and will give students the opportunity to learn from the physicians and care teams in Kaiser Permanente’s integrated health care system such as Registered Dietitians and health educators. This approach will provide future physicians, wherever they choose to practice, with the knowledge and skills to play key roles in the transformation of healthcare in our nation and help people from all backgrounds thrive.
