University of Pretoria fifth-year medical student Ulethuxolo Mkhaliphi .
SOUTH Africa’s future doctors are learning to prescribe food, not only pills, amid the rapid rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) across the country.
The Physicians Association for Nutrition South Africa (PAN SA) is supporting a growing movement known as “culinary medicine”, which aims to bridge the gap between nutrition science and everyday cooking by training medical and health science students to translate dietary knowledge into practical skills.
The organisation is active on seven university campuses across the country, where students are introduced to the role of nutrition in preventing chronic disease.
PAN SA community co-ordinator Gabriela Lourenco says a 2022 student survey found that many medical students reported limited training in nutrition, often receiving only a single lecture or module over the course of their six to seven years of study.
