Faculty provide expertise in clinical and community nutrition, sports nutrition, nutrition labeling, cost benefits of nutrition services, nutrition in health promotion, dietary supplement evaluation, nutrition and the life cycle (maternal, neonatal, pediatric, adolescent, and geriatric), nutrition in cancer therapy and cardiovascular disease, vitamin and mineral metabolism, marketing of nutrition information, and nutrition education.

Prerequisites and Transfers. A maximum of nine quarter hours may be transferred from another institution and a maximum of 12 quarter hours may be taken as a nonmatriculated University of Utah student, if recommended by the student's supervisory committee. Undergraduate prerequisite courses in biology, chemistry, nutrition, economics, writing, mathematics, psychology, and sociology are required for admission. An undergraduate degree in nutrition is not a prerequisite for admission to this program. For additional information, see the Graduate Information section of this catalog.

Nutrition Sciences. A minimum of 36 semester hours of approved course work is required for the Nutrition Sciences program including courses in advanced nutrition biochemistry and/or physiology, and statistics, as well as graduate seminar and thesis hours. The thesis provides experience in independent research aimed at developing skills beneficial to employment in a clinical setting, education, government, or related business areas. This program is designed for students who are already registered dietitians and are seeking a master's degree or students wishing to pursue a career in either nutrition research or medical sciences.

Dietetics. The Coordinated Master's Program in Dietetics is fully accredited by the American Dietetic Association. This research-based program requires 58 semester hours of graduate work, including 44 hours of course work and thesis research, and 14 hours of supervised practice experience. The supervised practice experience exposes students to administrative, clinical, community, food service management, and research-learning activities directed by registered dietitians. Successful completion of this program qualifies students to take the American Dietetic Association's registration examination.

Admission Requirements. Applicants must have a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university (degree equivalency is determined by the graduate school) and must have completed 46-64 hours of prerequisite classes at a bachelor's level. A separate specific program application for admission is also required. Additionally, three letters of recommendation, scores from the GRE and a 500-word statement of research objectives and motivation for seeking the degree are needed. International student applicants must submit TOEFL scores. All students must have written and oral competence in English. There are no foreign-language requirements.

Program Content. Course work emphasizes clinical, life-cycle and basic nutrition, communications, public policy, research methods and design, and course work in related areas. Nutrition field experience and research opportunities also are available. Students may develop research topics in areas of their own interest however, the areas in which faculty can provide support and expertise include nutrition and marketing, nutrition education, nutrition and health promotion, food product/supplement development, sports nutrition, clinical nutrition (cardiovascular, cancer, surgical, gastroenterologic, weight management) and neonatal and adolescent nutrition.

The College of Health is part of the Health Sciences Center, which includes the School of Medicine and colleges of Nursing and Pharmacy. An interdisciplinary approach to health is emphasized. The student has the opportunity to obtain additional instruction and guidance from the faculty in medicine, nursing, biochemistry, and pharmacy.

FD NU Course Descriptions