PHOENIX – University of Arizona medical students will soon be delivering healthy meals to cancer patient homes in Phoenix as part of a partnership with a Valley-based nonprofit. The Joy Bus collects and cooks donated food for volunteers that will be made available to cancer patients across the valley partnership. In addition to serving chef-inspired meals, the nonprofit and medical students will also have impactful conversations with cancer patients. The goal of Dr. Shad Marvasti, Founding Director of the Culinary Medicine Program and Director of Public Health at UArizona College of Medicine-Phoenix, is to teach his students the importance of using food as medicine. “The number one risk factor for preventable premature death and disease in the United States and the world is actually diet,” Marvasti said. Medical students will also provide an interactive placemat with every Joy Bus meal. Placemats contain health, wellness, and nutritional information that educates patients about how to treat and prevent their cancers from coming back. According to Marvasti, most medical schools offer an average of only 19 hours of nutrition curriculum during the four-year medical school. Its Capstone Course provides medical students with a unique and integrated experience to apply the knowledge from their courses to the use of food as medicine. The Joy Bus, with additional resources offered through the partnership, hopes to increase the number of health and wellness home visits from 50 to 100 per week and double the potential reach with the help of medical students. In addition, the participants of the non-profit organization benefit not only from the individual health and wellness visits that take place several times a week, but also from the medical knowledge of the students. Follow @Ali_Vetnar we want to hear from you. Do you have a story idea or a tip? Forward it to the KTAR news team here.
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