“I was interested in learning how to cook better and how to counsel patients better in the future,” said Johanna Appleton, MD ’29.

Maurine Fan, MD ’29, also shared her goals for personal growth.

“I wanted to gain more confidence in the kitchen and cooking healthy meals for myself,” said Fan.

Ng initiated this project as part of the four-year scholarly capstone requirement for all students within the medical school.

“The goal of the project is to facilitate conversations and patient education. There is a lot of research that students want more nutrition education in medical school curriculum to educate their patients,” said Ng.

Each student is assigned either medical school or clinical professors as their capstone mentors to help guide their research and support their growth. Specifically, Rebecca Zucconi and Katherine McLeod, associate professors of medical sciences, served as co-mentors for Ng and provided her with resources to host a successful series of workshops for students.

“This initiative was piloted in 2021 as an online program and did really well. We have really tailored it to the current nutritional competencies,” said McCloud.

With the opening of the new RecWell’s demonstration kitchen, more opportunities have emerged for students to gain firsthand experience.

Dana White, clinical professor of health and exercise science and sports dietitian, helped to facilitate the students’ use of the demonstration kitchen and ensure safe use of all the equipment.

“Since this space has been available, it's increased in popularity every semester. I personally teach a full class here in the fall. I bring classes and athletic teams in here, and the nutrition club, that I'm the faculty adviser for, come in here a couple times each semester. It’s a space that's meant for everyone. There's always something going on,” shared White.

Throughout the three Quinnipiac Netter sessions, Ng highlighted different areas of nutrition, with the first session focused on high-fiber breakfast recipes, the second session focused on protein bowls with plant-based alternatives and the third session focused on incorporating healthy fats into a pasta dish.

Students expressed a strong interest and need to learn more about culinary medicine.

Joe Chen, MD ’28, said he was appreciative of Ng’s work.

“Michelle had this brilliant idea of implementing culinary studies and medicine together. I think it's a really important course, because we can better educate our patients on which foods are healthy and how to incorporate healthier food into a diet,” said Chen.

Additionally, many students felt that this experience was pivotal to providing them the experiential learning that connects to their didactic work in their classes.

Adanne Ogbaa, MD ’29, said that the experiential learning helped her connect ideas from her medical sciences classes.

“I think this project very well integrated, especially since for every block that we have had, there is some kind of nutrition component. I feel like this is reinforcing what we're already doing in the classroom,” said Ogbaa.

The students who supported Ng’s capstone research shared their engagement and enjoyment of the courses beyond an academic opportunity.

“The program has been incredible, and the only thing that I would ask for is to have more sessions because I'm having so much fun,” said Ogbaa.

Through surveying students, Ng found many beneficial effects of providing students with experiential learning. Many students shared that they now feel more confident in preparing their own meals and counseling their patients in nutritional wellness.

Ng will present her research during her fourth year at the School of Medicine during the annual Capstone Scholars Day at the North Haven Campus.