By Kendall Givens-Little
It’s 10 a.m. on a Wednesday, and UofSC School of Medicine Greenville students are cooking up delicious plant-based recipes at the Truist Culinary and Hospitality Innovation Center at Greenville Technical College. The culinary medicine program is part of a dynamic collaboration in which medical students learn how to apply their medical knowledge and cooking skills, and then in turn, teach Prisma Health-Upstate patients from the Greenville community how to prepare healthier meals for themselves and their families.
Through its clinical partnership with Prisma Health–Upstate, the UofSC School of Medicine Greenville is the first medical school in the country to fully incorporate lifestyle medicine training, a clinical discipline that incorporates nutrition, physical activity, sleep quality, behavior change, and self-care into all four years of its medical school curriculum. The approach teaches future doctors how to prevent, treat, and, many times, even reverse chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. And that dynamic shift in curriculum—toward preventative care that addresses lifestyle factors—mirrors a shift taking place in the broader Upstate community.
The Prescription Has Changed
Lifestyle medicine is making its impact felt throughout the Upstate, and there are plenty of ways to get involved.
Exercise is Medicine Greenville® (EIMG®) is a comprehensive, 12-week exercise and lifestyle program for adults with chronic health conditions such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, obesity, hyperlipidemia or cardiovascular disease. Through EIMG®, participants learn how to reduce their risks and improve their overall health by adapting healthy behaviors that include exercise and movement. Upon completion of the program, participants are encouraged to continue with exercise and healthy lifestyle choices. Prisma Health, in partnership with the YMCA of Greenville, the UofSC School of Medicine Greenville, and the American College of Sports Medicine, offers the Exercise is Medicine Greenville® program through physicians and healthcare providers to reduce the progression of chronic diseases.
Spearheading many of these efforts is the Upstate’s own Dr. Jennifer Trilk, an associate professor of physiology and exercise science at the UofSC School of Medicine Greenville. Dr. Trilk founded and directs Exercise is Medicine Greenville® and is director of the culinary and lifestyle medicine curriculum at UofSC School of Medicine Greenville. In 2019, she received the Exercise is Medicine Global Leadership Award from the American College of Sports Medicine, and she has twice received the U.S. President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition Community Leadership Award (2014 and 2019) for her efforts for the Greenville community.
“Our future doctors, many of which are planning to stay in our community, are learning to help our Greenville neighbors prevent and overcome the top chronic diseases of our nation,” Trilk says. “Our comprehensive ‘classroom-clinic-community’ approach to lifestyle medicine is helping to positively impact wellness in this beautiful community that already embraces healthy living.”
This Must Be the Place
Whether you’re looking to continue optimizing your health and wellness or looking for a whole-body shift, you’ve found yourself in the perfect spot. There’s a French term, joie de vivre, that refers to a joyful embrace of life. As the options for active and engaged living continue to evolve and grow with the support of the Upstate medical community, higher education institutions like the University of South Carolina, and a plethora of community partners, there’s no shortage of ways to kickstart healthy living. And they’re all right here, at your fingertips.
Kendall Givens-Little is a multimedia communications specialist with over two decades of experience and currently serves as the chief information officer for the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville.
