Hynicka Honored for Innovative Electives in PharmD Curriculum

Lauren Hynicka teaches electives on integrative medicine and culinary medicine and nutrition.

By Andrew Tie
August 22, 2024

McGraw Hill, a leading global education company, has named a University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP) faculty member a recipient of its Pathfinder Awards, which recognize educators who demonstrate innovation or inventiveness in their teaching.

Lauren Hynicka, PharmD, BCPS, associate professor in the Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research (P-SHOR), received the recognition for two electives she teaches in the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program on integrative medicine and nutrition.

Established in 2022, the annual Pathfinder Awards recognize three teachers across the educational spectrum, one in K-12, one in higher education, and one in post-graduate education.

“Dr. Lauren Hynicka is a phenomenal example of the innovation and outside-the-box thinking we strive for as we educate the next generation of pharmacists to best treat their patients,” said Jill A. Morgan, PharmD, BCPS, BCPPS, FNAP, professor and chair of P-SHOR. “Her work in integrative medicine and culinary health is well deserving of the Pathfinder Award from McGraw Hill.”

Caring for the Whole Person

Integrative medicine is a holistic approach to treating patients whereby the provider looks at the whole person – including mind, body, and spirit – and not just from the perspective of a disease state. It is open to using various modalities to improve the patient’s health and wellness.

Hynicka has a long history with aspects of integrative medicine. As a pharmacy student, she started practicing yoga, which complemented other hobbies like running and eating healthily. When working with an internal medicine team in the hospital, she had an “a-ha” moment.

“There are certain disease states we don’t have great treatment options for, and we’re not able to get to the root cause,” Hynicka said. “I wondered why we weren’t talking about topics like yoga, nutrition, or physical health – which have been cornerstones of my own health and wellness. That was the lightbulb that went on in me to consider how we can think outside the box when we care for people.”

At UMSOP, Hynicka teaches an elective for students to learn about the philosophy of integrative medicine and explore the evidence behind modalities such as yoga, acupuncture, and ayurveda.

“I ask my students to think about their own wellness, and I want to give them the same ‘a-ha’ moment I had,” Hynicka said.

Analyzing What We Eat

The Pathfinder Award also highlights Hynicka’s elective on culinary medicine, which she co-teaches with Christopher D’Adamo, PhD, assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and director of research at the Center for Integrative Medicine.

Culinary medicine has grown in popularity at schools of medicine over the last two decades, but Hynicka thought pharmacy students needed to be learning about it as well.

“We know nutrition plays a huge role in the development of chronic diseases like diabetes or cancer, but we don’t spend a lot of time in health care professional education talking about it,” Hynicka said.

The elective provides interprofessional experience between students from various health care fields at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. They discuss the evidence behind four popular diets – Mediterranean, keto, plant-based, and paleo – and have students make food within those diets to try it themselves.

“It still feels surreal that I won the Pathfinder Award,” Hynicka said. “It gives me the opportunity to shine a light on the innovative and ongoing work that’s been happening within pharmacy in integrative medicine and culinary health. Hopefully this will help move pharmacy forward and make changes in the way we care for patients.”

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