The Seva Teaching Kitchen is located just off-campus and is home to the GW Culinary Medicine Program. Culinary medicine blends the art of cooking with the science of medicine. We believe that clinicians are in a unique position to help both themselves and patients navigate the complex information landscape around health and nutrition. We also believe that having an understanding of culinary techniques allows people to more realistically incorporate healthy eating into their daily lives. All of this together helps our students build confidence in providing evidence-based and individually targeted recommendations for diet and lifestyle changes, ultimately aiming to improve outcomes while maintaining respect for each patient's individual background and needs.
GW offers multiple opportunities to get involved with the culinary medicine program. We offer 2 electives to 3rd and 4th year medical students.
The IDIS 307 elective is offered twice a year in 2-week blocks. Students learn the foundations of culinary medicine and the fundamentals of healthy eating for the prevention and treatment of disease. This hybrid class combines in person didactic teaching with asynchronous learning utilizing the Health Meets Food Culinary Medicine curriculum paired with hands-on cooking in our professional teaching kitchen.
The IDIS 407 elective is offered for 9 months of the year and provides a more in-depth experience within culinary medicine. This utilizes the same curriculum as our IDIS 307 course, but students enrolled for this expanded 4-week elective will participate in departmental research, teaching, and recipe preparation for a more hands on experience in how clinicians can utilize culinary medicine throughout their career.
Students are also able to participate in the Culinary Medicine Program throughout medical school through participation in events or meetings with the Culinary Medicine Interest Group. The Seva Teaching Kitchen hosts community classes, undergraduate classes, and provides a space for faculty and students to participate in research and advocacy opportunities.
For more information about our electives please see the course catalog
If you have additional questions about the Seva Teaching Kitchen or other opportunities to get involved please contact Maya Fiellin at mfiellin [at] gwu [dot] edu (mfiellin[at]gwu[dot]edu)
Course Instructors
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Advisor: Lawrence Deyton, MSPH, MD Executive Director: Timothy S. Harlan, MD, FACP, CCMS Director: Alicia Tucker, MD, FAAP, Dipl. Of ABOM Director of Operations: Maya Fiellin, MPH Chief Instructor: Jennifer Leon, BS, RDN, LN Teaching Kitchen Manager: Genesis Villarreal |
Student Feedback
"By working with professionals from multiple different disciplines, including registered dietitians, physicians, executive chefs and social workers, we were able to capture different perspectives that helped paint a complete picture detailing the multitude of factors that relate to making healthy nutritional decisions." Jonathan Buerger |