OU-Tulsa Culinary Medicine Program Spotlighted for National Public Health Week

TULSA – This week, the Culinary Medicine program at the University of Oklahoma’s Tulsa campus will be in the spotlight for National Public Health Week.

This Is Public Health Roadshow, a program of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, will be in Tulsa Thursday, April 4, to spotlight the Culinary Medicine program, a joint initiative between the OU Hudson College of Public Health and the OU-TU School of Community Medicine.

Healthcare professionals and students from OU-Tulsa will join the “This is Public Health” team at the Gathering Place for a program from 10 to 11 a.m. in the ONEOK Boathouse. The event will begin with Culinary Medicine story time, read by OU-Tulsa President John Schumann, M.D., and the first 50 families will receive a free copy of the book “Green Beans, Potatoes, and Even Tomatoes.” The team will answer parents’ nutrition questions and provide tips on getting children involved in the kitchen. OU-Tulsa medical students will then host interactive fruit and vegetable “teach and taste” stations.

The activities are part of the mission of OU-Tulsa’s Culinary Medicine program, which aims to improve the health of local communities through the power of food.

“The future of our healthcare system – and the health of our population – requires that the disciplines of public health work together with clinical medicine in a coordinated way,” said Gary E. Raskob, Ph.D., dean of the OU Hudson College of Public Health. “The medical care a person receives is crucial and lifesaving, but about 40 percent of our total health outcome is determined by our behavior, including the food that we eat.”

The aim of the Culinary Medicine program is to improve health by teaching medical students, residents, physicians and patients cooking skills for making healthy, affordable meals. Food choices are an essential component of self-care for the prevention and treatment of chronic conditions, yet physicians traditionally have not been adequately trained on how food can be used for their own care and the care of their patients.

One of the more recent initiatives is a culinary medicine curriculum for medical and PA students in the School of Community Medicine. Through hands-on cooking experiences, students learn how to teach nutrition self-care for a variety of conditions, such as heart disease, hypertension, cancer, weight management and mental health.

“This is a translational project that gets students out of textbooks and into the kitchen,” said OU-Tulsa faculty member Marianna Wetherill, Ph.D., MPH. “Students not only learn the fundamentals of nutrition therapy for many common medical conditions, but also how these scientific concepts can be practically applied to make healthy eating recommendations.”

###

OU-TU SCHOOL OF COMMUNITY MEDICINE

The OU-TU School of Community Medicine is among the nation’s leaders in the growing field of community medicine, focusing on population-based health outcomes and the social determinants of health. The four-year medical school located at OU-Tulsa is a joint effort between the University of Oklahoma and the University of Tulsa, and is a track within OU’s College of Medicine. For more information, visit ou.edu/communitymedicine.

OU MEDICINE

OU Health — along with its academic partner, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center — is the state’s only comprehensive academic health system of hospitals, clinics and centers of excellence. With 11,000 employees and more than 1,300 physicians and advanced practice providers, OU Health is home to Oklahoma’s largest physician network with a complete range of specialty care. OU Health serves Oklahoma and the region with the state’s only freestanding children’s hospital, the only National Cancer Institute-Designated Stephenson Cancer Center and Oklahoma’s flagship hospital, which serves as the state’s only Level 1 trauma center. OU Health’s mission is to lead healthcare in patient care, education and research. To learn more, visit oumedicine.com.