Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs):

1. Demonstrate awareness for the social and cultural sensitivity of the Emirate's needs within its Islamic values and advancement.
2. Establish broad understanding of the importance of economic, environmental and cultural issues influencing food choice and nutritional status.
3. Possess strong foundation in health and food science.
   
4. Acquire a broad knowledge base and skills in nutritional sciences and nutrition education.
5. Integrate and acquire training and knowledge from fields relevant to food and nutrition sciences; food technology, food psychology and sociology, and health promotion and nutrition.
6. Develop a range of skills including knowledge of information technology, food analysis, independent learning, critical thinking and verbal and non-verbal communication.
7. Design an effective evidence-based nutrition care plan for individual clients or patients.
8. Demonstrate leadership to provide effective and efficient nutritional care to clients based on latest knowledge and changing needs to the community.
9. Apply the principles of nutrition and dietetics in the maintenance of health and prevention of disease in groups and individuals.
10. Act responsibly toward clients, self, colleagues, and the community.
11. Integrate recent developments through research in the field of clinical nutrition.
12. Adhere to the ethical and social issues important to nutritional services. 
    

National Qualifications Framework (NQF)
The following matrix shows the alignment of the Program Learning Outcomes with the Emirates National Qualifications Framework strands.

Career Opportunities

Graduates from the Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics are absorbed in popular careers that include hospitals, primary health care facilities, medical centers and clinics; food industry, food catering, and nutraceutical companies; educational institutions, research centers, media centers; social welfare organizations; and wellness clinics in public and private sectors.

Program Overview

The Bachelor of Science degree program in Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics (CN&D) is a full-time four-year comprehensive degree program comprising of 134 credit hours from courses offered at the university, college and department levels. The allocation of the credit hours is shown in the following table:

I.  University Requirements
Every student is required to take 24 credit hours of general education courses distributed over seven domains. Fifteen (15) mandatory credit hours are selected from domains 1, 2, 3 and 4 and (9) elective credit hours selected from domains 5, 6 and 7 as indicated in the University section (General Education). 

II.  College Requirements
The 24 credit hours of the College required courses and their descriptions are presented in the introductory pages of the College of Health Sciences section in this bulletin. 

III.  Program Requirements
This category consists of 86 credit hours of which are the 80 credit hours of mandatory courses and 6 credits of elective courses.

A. Core Courses
The 80 credit hours of required CN&D core courses are listed in the table below.

B. Department Elective Courses

Students may choose two courses encompassing six credit hours as required electives. The list of possible courses to choose from are given in the table below. The list includes courses offered by the CN&D program and other departments. Students should be aware that not all of the courses in the list will be available every semester. 

Study Plan

The Bachelor of Science in Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics program encompasses 134 credits hours that are spread over eight semesters and could be completed in four years. The following distribution of courses by semester facilitates students' normal progression through the study plan. 

Course Descriptions
The courses that are offered by the department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics are designated by the code (0507ABC), where ABC represents the year, term and sequence as described in the College Section. 

Core Courses
Descriptions of the core courses are given below. 

Prerequisite: 0500160 - Human Anatomy and Physiology.

This course is a preface to food and nutrition and the role of dietitians in promoting a healthy lifestyle. The students are oriented towards the basic principles of essential nutrients including their sources, digestion, absorption, functions, and their requirements. Issues of food safety as part of nutritional concern will also be exposed. 

 Prerequisite: 0507250 - Introduction to Nutrition.

A study of energy needs components, metabolism, general chemical characteristics and function of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins and minerals as well as other emerging nutritional factors related to human health and diseases.  

Co-requisite: 0501260 - Biochemistry.

This course deals with current issues associated with food constituents, structure-function relationships of water, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, minerals in food systems. The study of the various food groups with respect to their classification, quality, physical and chemical characteristics. It emphasizes on the food deterioration and spoilage, food law and regulations, methods used to preserve foods and food additives. 

Prerequisite: 0507250 - Introduction to Nutrition

This course explores the factors that affect attitudes and decisions about food; examines current issues of body image and food marketing. It focuses on the beliefs of different cultures in terms of food and nutritional values. The ways in which physical and social changes as well as public attitudes affect today's patterns of food consumption and food behavior are addressed. 

Prerequisite: 0501257 - General Microbiology.

Emphasis on the important groups of microorganisms associated with food quality, safety, processing, spoilage and fermentations; primary sources of microorganisms found in foods; factors (intrinsic and extrinsic) related to microbial growth; and control of food transmitted pathogens and minimizing public health risks. Practical training is combined to equip the students with the skills of applying the basic procedures for sample preparation and to determine the microbial quality of different food products; Enumeration of different types of microorganisms in food using general and selective culture media. 

Prerequisite: 0507260 - Macro and Micronutrients.

This course provides an introduction for the nutritional assessment as part of nutrition care process. It orients the students to the basic aspects of nutritional assessment systems. It emphasizes on the theoretical knowledge and practical skills regarding different aspects of nutritional assessment: anthropometric, laboratory, clinical, dietary assessments and includes an evaluation of their strengths and limitations. The laboratory sessions utilize active application of tools and techniques used for assessment of nutritional status. 

This course covers food technology and processing. It provides information about cooking techniques, including dry methods (roasting, baking, grilling, and frying); wet methods (boiling, poaching, steaming, and stewing) and microwave cooking. It enables students to understand the presented cooking methods of different food groups and the preservation techniques to prevent spoilage of food, including freezing, dehydration, use of sugars, use of acids, heat processing and canning. Practical training is combined to equip the students with the skills and scientific application of food preparation. 

Prerequisites: 0507250 - Introduction to Nutrition; 0507260 - Macro and Micronutrients.

This course covers basic nutritional issues from preconception throughout life; pregnancy and lactation, infancy, adolescence, adulthood and elderly. It deals with identifying nutrient needs, and discusses human nutrition from both physiological and psychosocial perspectives. It considers factors that affect growth and development, and the aging process. 

Prerequisite: 0507260 - Macro and Micronutrients; Co-requisite: 0507352 - Nutrition in the Life Cycle.

The course focuses on the interrelationships of growth and development of the infant/child with nutritional status in health and disease. Nutrition for health promotion; effects of malnutrition, nutrient needs, feeding strategies, disease and demographics on nutritional status and pathophysiology of growth and development along with their effect on organ systems are included. 

Prerequisites: 0507350 - Nutrition Assessment -0507352 - Nutrition in Life Cycle.

This course orients the students to the Nutrition Care process in the clinical setting. It focuses on the study of the advanced medical nutrition therapy for specific disease conditions such as digestive disorders, liver diseases, diabetes mellitus, obesity, oral health and metabolic disorders. 

Co-requisite: 0507360 - Medical Nutrition Therapy (1).

This course provides advanced study of evidence-based nutrition principles and clinical recommendations for the prevention and treatment of digestive disorders, diabetes mellitus, obesity, oral health and metabolic disorders. It develops the skills of the students of diet planning in health and disease to practice in clinical settings. 

Prerequisites: 0507350 - Nutrition Assessment; Co-requisite: 0507361 - Diet Planning and Disease (1).

This course is designed to emphasize the importance of nutrition in maintaining health and wellness. The students are acquainted with the nutrition care process, and the application of nutrition assessment tools on individuals in clinical training. The effectiveness of the therapeutic diet as related to specific diseases such as gastroenterological disorders, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity is examined. Students are familiarized with application of          dietary modification by diet writing/menu marking in the clinical setting. 

Prerequisite: 0507360, Medical Nutrition Therapy (1); Co-requisite: 0507451, Diet Planning and Disease (2).

This course covers the pathophysiology as well as the advanced principles of medical nutrition therapy of certain disease states as cardiovascular diseases, metabolic stress, renal disease and more complicated medical conditions including cancer, HIV infection, AIDS, specific disease conditions such as stress and trauma. 

Prerequisite: 0507361 - Diet Planning and Disease (1); Co-requisite: 0507450 - Medical Nutrition Therapy (2).

This course focuses on application of evidenced-based nutrition care process in management of coronary heart diseases, renal diseases, cancer, HIV and other critical conditions with special emphasis of individualized nutrition support. The advanced course is designed to equip students with professional skills in diet planning for clinical settings. 

Year 4, S Level 4 (Senior), Semester 8, Spring (15 Credit Hours)

Prerequisite: 0503263 - Health Education and Health Promotion.

This course comprises of application of the principles of nutrition assessment and development of the nutrition education plan as a component of health care for individuals and groups in a community health care setting. It is an introduction to nutrition related diseases in terms of cause and treatment, prevention and rehabilitation. The emphasis is on the application of knowledge and skills in the areas of wellness and healthy eating lifestyles promotion, nutrition education, program planning and evaluation and client care and support. The aim of this course is to enable students to utilize the knowledge and skills gained through other courses in working with clients, individuals, families and communities as they assess and intervene to practice health-enhancing activities. 

Prerequisite: 0507351 - Food Processing and Preparation.

This course introduces the students to the methods of food analysis, their use and limitations. Procedures and instruments for the analysis of specific chemicals and food components are described. Practical training focuses on the analysis of various food groups for their major and minor food components.

Prerequisite: 0507263 - Food Microbiology.

The course illustrates the functions of food service operations such as menu planning, purchasing, storage, production and service. It reviews the principles of cleaning, sanitation, personal hygiene and safety practices in food service facilities like implementation of HACCP program. It provides students with an insight into the design, operation, management and evaluation of institutional and commercial food service facilities. Applications for menu management and recipe writing are discussed. The course also covers the application of dietary advice by focusing on menu management, design and recipes in order to ensure that advice about diet are practical. It allows students to reflect on their nutritional knowledge and eating pattern to manage, plan, and analyze a range of meals suitable for maintenance of good health. 

Prerequisite: 0507451 - Diet Planning and Disease (2).

This course provides students with insights into the principles and practice of clinical nutrition. The students appreciate the role of nutrients in the pathogenesis of chronic disease, and nutrition in the management of certain      disease states as cardiovascular disease, metabolic stress, renal disease including parenteral nutrition support, in stress and trauma as well as specific disease conditions such as, cancer, HIV infection, and AIDS. The selective clinical setting provides the opportunity for students to pursue personal learning objectives and concepts relevant to their role as practitioners, educators. 

Prerequisite: 0500450 - Introduction to Research.

This course comprises the application of the knowledge of research methods in a nutrition situation. Each student develops a specific study design on a selected nutrition related topic under the supervision of a faculty and implements, analyzes, interprets the findings and submits a project report.

Elective Courses

Descriptions of the elective courses are given below.

Prerequisite: 0507352 - Nutrition in the Life Cycle.

Prerequisite: None.

Prerequisite: 0507350 - Nutrition Assessment.

This course gives the knowledge related to food, nutrition, healthy eating and how to maximize sports performance.