WVU fourth-year medical student looks to earn culinary medicine certification through Culinary and Lifestyle Medicine Track

As she looks ahead to earning her medical degree and transitioning into residency, fourth-year medical student Natalie Mastroianni also looks to earn her certification as a culinary medicine specialist through the School of Medicine’s Culinary and Lifestyle Medicine Track (CLMT).

CLMT is a four-year curriculum available to WVU medical students across all campuses that runs in tandem with the standard M.D. curriculum. The track provides medical students with comprehensive education on culinary and lifestyle medicine concepts such as nutrition, lifestyle management and physical activity.

As someone who enjoys cooking healthy meals and exercising in her free time, Mastroianni said she was drawn to the track by the way it places preventative medicine front and center for patients.

“Many of the leading causes of death in the United States can be prevented, reduced or even reversed through proper lifestyle management,” she explained. “Every patient is affected by their diet and lifestyle choices. A background in culinary and lifestyle medicine can help us as physicians enhance the health and wellbeing of every patient we encounter, regardless of our medical specialty.”

At the conclusion of the four-year curriculum, students can elect to sit for the optional Certified Culinary Medicine Specialist (CCMS) exam. CCMS designation identifies clinicians who possess a unique foundation for incorporating healthy eating into patients’ diets, a comprehensive knowledge of nutrition and the culinary techniques to prepare food that is consistent with real-world budgets, time constraints and nutritional ideals.

Since the program’s inception in 2020, a total of 11 CLMT graduates have gone on to pass the exam and earn their certifications as specialists in culinary medicine. Mastroianni will look to join these ranks when she sits for the CCMS exam this spring.

While she acknowledges the certification will be a good resume-builder for her as she transitions to the next phase of her medical training, she said she was primarily motivated to earn her certification so she can better advise patients to make positive changes to their lives.

“A large part of culinary and lifestyle medicine is learning how to start the conversation about positive lifestyle changes with our patients. We can’t actively make them exercise or eat healthier, but we can equip them with the tools and knowledge to make those decisions for themselves,” she said. “This certification will help lend credibility to the lifestyle interventions I recommend, allowing me to better reach my future patients.”

Mastroianni will also be joined by six of her fellow CLMT classmates in taking the CCMS exam, a record high for the track. CLMT co-director and co-founder Rosemarie Cannarella Lorenzetti, M.D., MPH, CCMS, FAAFP, DABOM, said this significant turnout is just a small example of the dedication of her culinary medicine students.

“I am constantly amazed by the hard work and dedication our CLMT students display each year,” Dr. Lorenzetti said. “This track is no small undertaking, with an estimated 300 additional hours spent during the four-year curriculum as students explore the fascinating world of culinary and lifestyle medicine as they also work tirelessly towards earning their medical degrees. I am proud of each and every one of our students and am honored to see so many of them take the extra step of sitting for the CCMS exam.”

Mastroianni recently matched with the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio. Following residency, she plans to pursue a fellowship in cardiology.

To learn more about the Culinary and Lifestyle Medicine Track at the WVU School of Medicine, visit medicine.hsc.wvu.edu/culinary.