Culinary Medicine in the Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Education Pathway

Although registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) are well-positioned to be impactful contributors to interprofessional culinary medicine (CM) teams, the absence of mandatory CM training in the RDN education pathway may significantly limit their potential positive impact. In this preliminary study, program directors of supervised practice programs express strong interest and acknowledgment of the value of CM education for RDNs but varied inclusion across programs. Considering CM’s rapid growth and the RDN’s role as a food and nutrition expert, creating mandatory knowledge and competency standards in CM to better prepare RDNs for future practice warrants consideration.