Abstract
BACKGROUND: Nutrition education remains an underdeveloped component of medical training globally. This gap in knowledge can hinder physicians from effectively integrating nutrition into clinical practice, creating a significant barrier to supporting meaningful dietary changes in patients. We developed a culinary medicine elective for 3rd to 6th year medical students titled “Prospective Physicians For Fibre (PPFF)” to promote students’ knowledge about the importance of fibre and its benefits in health and disease. METHODS: The four-week fibre-focused, mixed-methods, short-term, culinary medicine elective PPFF was tested in a non-controlled pilot study. Students’ fibre intake and knowledge about fibre were compared in a pre-post design in n = 47 participants. RESULTS: Participants had a median age of 24 years; females accounted for 72% of the sample. Mean fibre intake based on 2-day weighed food diaries increased from 29.52 ± 10.72 to 38.40 ± 12.14 g/d after the elective (P < .001). Prior to the elective, self-assessed fibre intake ranged from 5 to 1000 g/d, and was not correlated with food diary-based fibre intake. After the elective, self-assessed fibre intakes were more accurate and a strong correlation between self-assessed and actual fibre intake was observed (Spearman’s rho = 0.55, P < .001). Students’ scoring in the PPFF survey improved significantly from 3.06 ± 1.66 to 7.70 ± 1.49 points (P < .001). The elective received very good ratings and increased students’ self-perceived competences in various domains, such as fibre intake assessment, nutrition counselling and cooking skills. CONCLUSIONS: PPFF improves fibre intake and nutrition knowledge in a pilot cohort of German medical students and may equip students with essential skills and competencies for their future career. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-025-08547-z.