Dietetics (Pre-Registration)

On this module you will gain the understanding of the basic principles of nutritional biochemistry and metabolism is essential in the study of nutrition, and forms the backbone of this module, with a focus on

• energy production systems
• metabolic states
• and nutrients required by humans.

Other aspects you'll cover include the critical assessment of dietary reference values and food composition tables.

Research training is one of the important aspects of a Masters course and the aim is for all Masters graduates to be fully competent to devise, run and present research in a professional manner. This module leads up to the Research Project modules (NUTR7008 and DIET7008), which, for the MSc, will be complete over the summer and use most or all of the techniques covered here.

The aim of the module is to give training in the common Research Methods used to:

• Systematically review and evaluate current literature, using appropriate tools.
• Devise a research proposal, taking into account various aspects of scientific investigations, such as rationale, sample size, ethical considerations, and research design.
• Critique and summarise published research, with an emphasis on assessing its internal and external validly.
• Understand the planning, execution, and analyse results of experimental work (within international research governance and ethical standards).
• Communicate research in various formats, including written and oral presentation methods.

Through this module, you will develop your understanding of the organisational and delivery framework of health and care services in the UK, with a focus on the professional context in which dietitians work. This includes:

• management systems and processes
• communication with service users and within multidisciplinary care teams
• and safe provision of food and catering systems.

This module introduces you to the field of health psychology; emphasising health promotion, counselling, and goal setting in the context of diet, nutrition, and exercise for health and disease prevention and within the HCPC Standards of Ethics, Conduct, and Performance, preparing you to act as a professional dietitian.

Additionally, you will cover the role of diet and nutrition in supporting growth, development, and health across the lifespan, including the biochemical and physiological changes that occur at different life stages.

This module will help you gain a comprehensive and critical understanding of the primary physiological and pathophysiological functions in the human body.

You will also look at the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of key drugs in the prevention/treatment of selective health conditions, and the use of analytical techniques for diagnosing and monitoring human diseases, as well as guiding dietetic referrals.

This module is a detailed examination of the relationship between nutrition and health.

You will look at the form of personalised nutrition interventions to maintain health and/or prevent overweight and obesity, from a public/global health perspective. You will gain valuable insights into nutritional issues specific to developing and transitional countries such as micronutrient deficiencies and complications from infectious diseases.

In this module, you will be expected to demonstrate higher levels of knowledge and clinical reasoning to enable you to manage a clinical caseload. You are also required to complete and submit a written reflective assignment as part of the assessment for this module.

This module will enable you to engage in individual or group research under the guidance of a supervisor in order to pursue a sustained critical inquiry and gain an in-depth understanding in a specific area of dietetics, nutrition, nutrition epidemiology, eating behaviour, food science, or public health through primary or secondary data collection and analysis. Research projects typically include some elements of design and planning of some form of data collection, development of new hypotheses, and analysis of findings. Data collection may be a laboratory experimentation (human participants, foods/food ingredients), questionnaires/surveys, clinical audits, or interviews/focus groups. You will therefore have the opportunity to critically engage with appropriate research methodology (quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods) and academic literature in a reflective, analytical, and critically self-aware fashion.