Contact mmarras@luc.edu if interested.

AY2024-2025 Dates:  9/9/2024 - 2/18/2025

This part-time elective (one week of elective credit) is designed to provide medical students with a comprehensive understanding of the most current information that is available regarding nutrition and its impact on our health. This course will cover topics such as understanding the nutrition label, processed foods, the best options available in each of the main food groups, and more. Using evidence-based medicine, this course aims to educate students on the consequences of how foods in our current society can either help or harm our health. With this information, students will be better prepared to provide preventative medicine and integrate nutritional considerations into their clinical practice, enhancing their care as future physicians, regardless of their chosen specialty. Throughout the course, students will attend lectures on zoom and/or in person on the nutritional topics covered in the course. Students will partake in a final project in which they will cook a dish for an in-person event. The dish must be made with ingredients that the students learned are healthier options, as outlined in the course lectures. Students will bring their food, accompanied by an ingredient list, to the final meeting where students can share their food and recipe with other students. 

In order to receive the 1-week credit, students must complete the following:

1. Attend all of the required lectures, with the exception of 1 absence permitted (7-8 hours total)
2. Complete the online quiz covering lecture content by the end of the elective period
3. Complete a mid-elective ½ page reflection on what modifications (if any) you have made in your own life or clinical practice based on course content.
4. Final Project:
   1. Students will be required to make a dish to bring and share on the last day of class using healthy ingredients, as defined by lecture content from the elective. Each student will provide the recipe with specific ingredients used in their dish and be prepared to provide a brief description to the class. These can be modified from an existing recipe with healthier ingredients or your own creations!
   2. ** If students are unable to attend this date, an alternate assignment will be provided in order to fulfill the final project requirement

Tentative Lecture Dates/ Times (AY2024-2025)

Note: Most lectures will be held in person at SSOM. Exceptions for a zoom option will be made for M3 and M4 students who are on clinical rotations outside of SSOM on a case-by-case basis.

Students will be evaluated on the basis of each of four components:

1. Attendance in required lectures (50%)
2. Final Quiz (15%)
3. Mid-rotation feedback (15%)
4. Final Project (20%)