In a recent Dayton Daily News column, Sarah Gillis, M.D., clinical assistant professor of family medicine and internal medicine at Wright State, writes about how her Food Is Medicine course takes medical education beyond the classroom and into the real world.
The course examines the connections between nutrition and chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. Students also explore food insecurity, produce prescriptions and the practical challenges of integrating nutrition into patient care.
As part of the course, students visited Gem City Market in Dayton to explore the real-world factors that shape food choices and affordability. They also visited the Dayton VA Medical Center to learn about nutritional deficiencies.
At Gem City Market, students saw how economic realities influence access to healthy food. Angie Voiles, the market’s lead manager, explained how higher margins on some products, such as soda, help the cooperative keep essentials such as eggs affordable. The market also offers products at different price points and works with the neighborhood to guide its selections.
“Medical schools have traditionally focused on the treatment of diseases,” said Harminder Grewal, MBBS, chair of Family Medicine, who co-directs the course with Gillis. “Healthy nutrition is one of the most important medical interventions for primary prevention of at least 80% of chronic diseases. Our medical students led the charge, and we worked right alongside them to build it.”
Read Gillis’ column, The Fresh Food Physician, at daytondailynews.com.
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