Graduate Dietetics Future Education Model
Curriculum
The program requires a total of 34 credits including completion of experiential rotations. In general, the program follows the 36-week academic calendar with additional experiential rotations scheduled in May and one day in June 2025.
At the conclusion of this curriculum, students will have demonstrated satisfactory performance of all FG Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) competencies including didactic skills such as reviewing scientific literature, analyzing research designs, developing appropriate research questions, identifying problems relating to dietary quality in vulnerable groups using a national database, data extraction, analysis and reporting based on this database, identifying community nutrition problems and developing a community nutrition intervention grant proposal to address these problems.
Required Courses
Year 1
Fall |
||
|---|---|---|
| Course Number | Course Name | Credit |
| NUT 504 | Food Systems, Sustainability and Health | 3 |
| NUT 505 | Methods in Nutrition Research | 3 |
| NUT 553 | Nutrient Metabolism I | 3 |
| NUT 580 | Experiential Learning in Dietetics 1 | 2 |
| Total | 11 | |
Spring |
||
|---|---|---|
| Course Number | Course Name | Credit |
| NUT 507 | Applied Nutrition | 2 |
| NUT 581 | Experiential Learning in Dietetics 2 | 2 |
| NUT 582 | Experiential Learning in Dietetics 3 | 1 |
| Total | 5 | |
Year 2
Fall |
||
|---|---|---|
| Course Number | Course Name | Credit |
| NUT 507 | Applied Nutrition | 2 |
| NUT 581 | Experiential Learning in Dietetics 2 | 2 |
| NUT 582 | Experiential Learning in Dietetics 3 | 1 |
| Total | 5 | |
Spring |
||
|---|---|---|
| Course Number | Course Name | Credit |
| NUT 506 | Nutrition in the Community | 3 |
| NUT 524 | Global Nutrition | 3 |
| NUT 550 | Epidemiology of Nutrition and Chronic Disease | 3 |
| NUT 554 | Nutrient Metabolism II | 3 |
| NUT 583 | Experiential Learning in Dietetics 4 | 1 |
| Total | 13 | |
Experiential Requirements
In addition to the M.S. coursework requirements, FG students must complete a minimum of 1,100 hours of supervised practice experience in health care, food service and community facilities.
Students must complete the experiential rotations as well as M.S. degree requirements in order to receive a Commission on Dietetic Registration Verification Statement qualifying them to take the Dietetic Registration Examination, as well as to apply for licensure to practice dietetics in Rhode Island.
Experiential Rotations Semesters 2 and 3:
Professional Practice Settings:
- Medical Nutrition Therapy (NUT 581 and NUT 582):
- 15 weeks (600 hours – 60 hours holidays/workshops= 540 hours)
- 8 weeks community-based facility, 6 weeks advanced MNT at Rhode Island Hospital (RIH) and 1 week nutrition support at RIH
- Foodservice Management (NUT 581):
- 7 weeks (245 hours – 28 hours holidays/workshops= 217 hours)
- Community (NUT 582):
- 7 weeks (245 hours – 28 hours holidays/workshops= 217 hours)
- 5 weeks SNAP-Ed and EFNEP
- 1 week Outpatient Counseling
- 1 week Long Term Care
- Specialty (NUT 583)
- 5 weeks (175 hours – 20 hours holidays/workshops= 155 hours)
- Counseling and Professional Engagement (NUT 583)
- 28 hours
Total supervised planned experiential in professional practice settings = 1157 hours.
Additional Experiential Learning including Interprofessional Education (IPE) Semesters 1-4 = 109 hours
- Health screening assessments including measuring blood pressure, conducting blood glucose and cholesterol testing (Semester 1) 9 hours
- Pediatric Health Promotion IPE (Semester 1) 12 hours
- Senior Wellness IPE (Semester 1) 6 hours
- South Kingston High School Health Fair IPE (Semester 1) 6 hours
- Nutrition Focused Physical Examination and Assessment (Semester 1) 6 hours.
- Environmental Audit (Semester 1) 4 hours
- University of Rhode Island Health Fair (Semester 4) 6 hours
- Pediatric and Nutrition Support workshops (Semesters 2 and 3) 12 hours
- Rhode Island Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics annual meetings (Semesters 2 and 4) 12 hours
- Student initiated Learning Self-management (Semesters 2 and 3) 36 hours
Total planned experiential learning time = 1266 hours
[1] Total hours may be reduced based on facility scheduling but will exceed 1100 hours.
All planned experiential hours are scheduled by the program except for a one-week (36 hour) student initiated and evaluated learning self-management rotation. This rotation is designed to help students develop skills of self-management of lifelong learning needs. Students are responsible for determining a learning need and finding a site and a preceptor for this 36-hour rotation. The program will assist students in finding a site based on the student’s learning needs. This rotation can be completed at any time during the program including during university breaks and over the summer between year 1 and year 2.
Credit for prior learning experiences can be arranged, see details in the FG Program Handbook.