Registered Dietitian Nutritionists as Leaders in Lifestyle and Culinary Medicine

The education and skills of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs), combined with lifestyle medicine training, position them to effectively extend their scope of practice to be strong leaders in the lifestyle medicine field. Many of the Essential Practice Competencies for RDNs defined by the Commission on Dietetic Registration support both the interventional (curriculum design and delivery, facilitation and provision of medical nutrition therapy - MNT) and operational (business and operations, marketing and recruitment, food and kitchen safety, research and evaluation) components that are necessary to deliver and direct effective LM initiatives. The same is also true for culinary medicine, a growing field that complements lifestyle medicine. This presentation will detail how the “Cooking with Plants” culinary series was established and why RDNs are especially well positioned to implement this type of LM and CM initiative. Discussion will start with a brief overview of how the RDN core competencies, paired with additional LM and CM training, uniquely prepare RDNs to lead this work. We will then review the evidence-based benefits of CM programs and the various organizations and training programs - such as the American College of Culinary Medicine, the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative, and the American College of Lifestyle Medicine – that support CM initiatives. The remainder of our presentation will focus on providing a basic blueprint that RDNs can use to start a similar program at their healthcare institution. We will cover how to identify the stakeholders for a successful CM initiative, the cost of operating a virtual CM program, potential funding streams, equipment and physical space requirements, choosing or designing a curriculum, recipe selection, marketing, class preparation, and evaluation. Any healthcare professional interested in culinary medicine, the role of RDNs in lifestyle medicine, or in nutrition education would find this presentation valuable.