At the U, future doctors and nurses learning to treat patients with food
January 2, 2018
The click-clack of knives chopping on cutting boards and the savory smell of sauteed onions filled the air on a recent evening.
Eight students from the University of Minnesota training to be doctors, nurses and counselors raced around the classroom, donning aprons instead of lab coats. Their assignment: Prepare a delicious, healthful meal to treat patients’ specific health problems.
“Smells like a steak,” Theodore Wang said, as he sprinkled a pinch of salt over shiitake mushrooms simmering in olive oil.
It was his last class in the six-week course, Food Matters for Health Professionals, which pairs the art of cooking with the science of using food as medicine.
Taught by a doctor and a chef, the novel course, offered through the university’s Center for Spirituality and Healing, reflects a growing awareness of the link between food and health.
