<p>Culinary medicine, a combination of nutrition science and the culinary arts, is an emerging approach for teaching nutrition to medical students and improving their competence in counseling patients with diet-associated diseases. Data are, however, lacking on the impact of culinary medicine courses directed at clinically experienced students. This study reports initial outcomes of a pilot nutrition and culinary medicine course targeting 4th-year medical students. An elective course on culinary medicine was offered to 4th-year medical students at the Perelman School of Medicine, comprising seven disease-focused sessions, with a final capstone session. Students read primary literature for each session. Individual sessions consisted of culinary literacy, cooking, and a case discussion led by physicians and registered dietitians. In addition, students participated in a nutrition education initiative in a local high school. Students completed pre-and postcourse surveys that evaluated perceived nutrition knowledge and counseling skills and personal dietary choices, and included free-text options for qualitative comments. Thirty-one 4th-year medical students participated in three offerings of the course in 2018 and 2019. There was strong student enthusiasm for the course as (1) all the available slots for each course offering were filled within 2 h of an e-mail announcement to the students; (2) student attendance was consistently very high; and (3) student feedback about the course was uniformly positive. Students reported significant increases in their confidence regarding (1) knowledge of pertinent nutrition information; (2) discussing nutrition with patients; and (3) ability to impact patient behavior through counseling ( &lt; 0.001). Qualitative comments suggested that students were contemplating or implementing changes in their dietary habits and food choices. A culinary medicine course for clinically experienced medical students may improve perceived nutrition knowledge and increases confidence in counseling patients with diet-associated diseases.</p>

<p><strong>OBJECTIVE: </strong>Serious pediatric illness places great stress on families. Parents who learn coping skills may better manage these stressors. This study sought to develop and refine a stress coping intervention for parents of hospitalized children, assess the intervention acceptability among these parents, and gather preliminary data on stress, negative and positive affect, anxiety, depression, and self-efficacy.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>We conducted an observational study in 2 phases, enrolling parents of children who were inpatients with serious illness, 10 in Phase 1 and 40 in Phase 2. All parents completed at baseline measures of stress and psychological well-being and were introduced to the Coping Kit for Parents. Follow-up interviews were conducted at one week (all parents) and one month (Phase 2 parents only) regarding the acceptability of the intervention.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>At baseline, parents reported that stressful situations were frequent (mean=30.6, SD=6.8) and difficult (mean=26.2, SD=7.1), and revealed elevated levels of negative affect (mean=27.3, SD=7.7), depression (mean=8.5, SD=3.7) and anxiety (mean=11.3, SD=3.1), and moderate levels of self-efficacy related to their child's illness (mean=3.3, SD=0.5). The majority of parents used the kit regularly and on a scale of 1 to 7 agreed that the kit was helpful (mean=6.0, SD=0.9), interesting (mean=5.7, SD=1.3), practical (mean=5.7, SD=1.4), enjoyable (mean=6.0, SD=1.3), and they would recommend it to other parents (mean=6.4, SD=0.9).</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>The Coping Kit for Parents is an acceptable stress management intervention that could be made available to parents of children with serious illness at pediatric hospitals with minimal staff training or time commitment.</p>