Courses

This course will examine the role of nutrition in promoting, maintain and improving health in the community. The course also discusses health care policy, health care delivery systems, food and nutrition services for different groups, global health issues, grant writing, program planning, nutrition marketing and health promotion, and culture and diversity issues.

Students will learn advanced communication skills and topics in dietetics; use of appropriate education theory, techniques, and media in nutrition education, counseling theories and negotiation, interviewing, and counseling skills in individual and group counseling will be emphasized.

This course teaches biochemistry using nutrition as a model. Topics will include the energetics of metabolism; the structure and metabolism of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, micronutrients, and the integration of metabolic systems.

This course will expand upon the knowledge of basic nutrition science and emphasizes integrative and functional approach to nutrition. The course reviews the fundamental principles and perspectives of conventional, traditional, integrative, and functional medical models to identify best practices for nutritional care. Concepts and tools used within these practices and how they align with the integrative practitioner’s goal for personalized, whole-person, relationship-centered, and environmentally sensitive care will be discussed.

This course will provide a critical evaluation of issues, concepts, and controversies surrounding nutritional supplement use and nutraceuticals in relation to health. Emphasis on the importance of scientific investigations and evidenced-based practice to evaluate the efficacy and safety of using nutritional supplements and nutraceuticals will be made.

Nutrigenetics elucidates the relationship between human genome, nutrition and health, introducing how nutrients, life pattern, environmental factors influence gene expression and disease risks through epigenetic mechanisms. (3 units)

This course provides an overview of methods used in nutrition research, including dietary assessment methods, indicators of nutritional status, analysis and presentation of dietary data, statistical interpretation, and clinical research methods. Students participate in discussions of published research articles to learn techniques for deriving evidence-based recommendations for clinical practice. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to read, interpret, and understand the findings from clinical research studies and understand the fundamental tools that are used by nutrition researchers.

This course will prepare students for laboratory based clinical exercise assessments through hands on experience and guided case studies. Focus will be given to cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and pulmonary assessments. This course will discuss the underlying pathology of a variety of metabolic and lifestyle disease with specific emphasis on exercise prescription for the prevention and treat of lifestyle diseases. This course will center on 4 primary domains: 1) Patient/ Client Assessment, 2) Exercise Prescription, 3) Program implementation/ongoing support, 4) Leadership and Counseling. (3 units)

This course will focus on human physiology and nutrition related to human health. Students will examine organ systems, such as cardiovascular, kidney and liver, and gastrointestinal, and explore how diet influences their function, susceptibility to chronic disease and longevity. Finally, the course will provide students with an advanced understanding of the intersection between nutrients and food components on the biological systems in the human body.

Students will learn about the historically shifting boundaries between medicine, psychology and religion in the West. Students will evaluate the health impact of patients’ religious and spiritual beliefs and practices and whether and how the effects of spiritual practices can be measured. Finally, students will evaluate different models for integrating traditional and alternative therapies with Western biomedicine and learn best practices for assessing and meeting patients’ spiritual and mental health needs.