Academic Preparation

Scientific and evidence based practice

KRD 1.1 - I have met this knowledge requirement through the classes Nutrition
Education and Applied Processes, Nutrition Assessment, and Medical Nutrition Therapy.
In Nutrition Education and Applied Processes, I learned how to search the scientific
literature and use that literature to compile a research presentation. I also learned how to
interpret and present what I learn to people who do not have as much knowledge of
nutrition science as me. This is important because as a dietitian, I will be relaying
information from scientific literature to the general public on a regular basis, and I need
to know how to evaluate what I read and relay it in a way that makes sense to people who
do not have a nutrition science background. Through the Nutrition Assessment class, my
knowledge of how to research and interpret the scientific literature was reinforced and I
learned how to use the research principles for assessment in evidenced-based practice.
Through the Nutrition Assessment lab, I got hands on experience practicing the various
assessment methods. I will be able to use those methods to conduct nutrition assessment
as a dietitian in a clinical or community setting. Through the Medical Nutrition Therapy
class, I got a deeper knowledge of what the scientific literature has to say about specific
conditions requiring medical nutrition therapy (MNT). I also got more practice looking
for scientific literature, interpreting it, and presenting it to people. Through that class, I
gained a deeper understanding of the science behind the MNT for certain medical
conditions, which I will be able to use when counseling people.

Professional practice expectations (communication, counseling, governance)

KRD 2.1 - Through the Nutrition Education and Applied Processes class, I not only
learned about good communication, but got to put it into practice. As one final project for
this class, I developed a nutrition education workshop for first grade students. I learned
how to communicate with children about nutrition through speaking to them during the
workshop and how to make sure that activities and written material were at an
appropriate age and reading level. As another project for this class, I created a power
point presentation and a brochure on prostate cancer. The presentation was given to the
other students in the class, so it was similar to what I will have to do one day when I
communicate with colleagues. The brochure was designed to be below a certain reading
level, so it was a good experience using written communication to get information to
someone with a low education level. All of these things will be useful working in all
areas of dietetics because no matter where I work as a dietitian, I will be communicating

with people.
KRD 2.2 - Through the Medical Nutrition Therapy class, I learned how to counsel people
based on their current disease or condition. One project for the class was to film yourself
counseling someone on a certain disease. By doing this project, I got practice counseling
and I got to watch myself and see what areas I needed to improve. I will use the
counseling techniques as a dietitian when I counsel people based on a disease or

condition they have.

KRD 2.3 - Through Introduction to Dietetics and Professionalism in Dietetics, I leaned
about what ethics and what the scope of practice is for a dietitian. The Introduction to
Dietetics class, gave me a basic idea of what these things were, and then those were
expanded on in Professionalism in Dietetics. In Professionalism in Dietetics, I read
papers from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics on the Scope of Dietetics Practice

and the Code of Ethics for the Profession of Dietetics. This was useful because as a
dietitian, I will need to know what is within my scope of practice and ethical for me to
do, and what it is not.

Clinical and customer services (medical nutrition therapy, behavior change techniques,
etc)

KRD 3.1 - Through Nutrition Assessment and Medical Nutrition Therapy, I learned about
the nutrition care process and got a lot of practice using it. In Nutrition Assessment, I
learned what the nutrition care process is and what each of the steps includes. In Medical
Nutrition Therapy, I got to practice using it on a regular basis. We did case studies every
week, and completing an ADIME note on the patient was often a component of the case
study. The components of the ADIME note were always a component of the case study,
even when I did not have to actually write the note. The components that were always
most obvious were the diagnosis and intervention ones. For every case study, I had to
write two PES statements and often, I also had to write and intervention for them. This
was a useful experience because I know that when I work as a dietitian in a hospital, I
will have to be able to chart using ADIME notes and be able to give a clear diagnosis and

intervention that the patient and other members of the healthcare team can understand.
KRD 3.2 - Through International Nutrition and Cultural Foods and Nutrition and
Physical Fitness, I learned the most about the role of environment, food, nutrition and
lifestyle choices in health promotion and disease prevention. International Nutrition and
Cultural Foods taught me about what foods certain groups eat most frequently and how to
promote healthy options. As a project for that class, I gave a presentation on the food
choices in Greece. This was interesting because I got to learn more about the

Mediterranean diet and how it can be used to promote good health for Americans and
prevent diseases. I learned that the people of Greece typically have a healthy lifestyle and
an environment that promotes healthy eating, while people in many other countries, do
not. This information will be useful when I need to make a diet recommendation to
someone and the Mediterranean diet seems appropriate. Through Nutrition and Physical
Fitness, I created an exercise plan for a client. I took into account their environment and
lifestyle to make it appropriate for them. The knowledge of how to create an exercise
plan and the practice I got doing it, will be useful when I need to make exercise
recommendations to clients or patients in the future.

Management and Use of Resources: strategic application of principles of management

and systems in the provision of services to individuals and organizations

KRD 4.1 - Through the class Management Practices for Dietetics, I learned basic
management strategies like leading by example and how to conduct myself professionally
as a manger. For this class, I gave a presentation on a book called All I know About
Management I Learned from My Dog. By reading this book and giving a power point
presentation on it, I learned about what the author called the 4 golden rules of
management. Those included trust and leadership, communication, problem solving and
decision making, and perseverance and success. These rules are useful because many

dietitians are also managers in the clinical and food service setting.
KRD 4.2 - Through the class Medical Nutrition Therapy, I learned about quality
management in the nutrition care process. When working on the case studies, one concern
that came up repeatedly was making sure that a patient was receiving adequate nutrients

but not too much. One situation that was a challenge was figuring out how much
parenteral nutrition to give an obese trauma patient. I learned to consult resources like the
American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition to find the best recommendation
for that condition. It is extremely important to ensure that a patient is receiving adequate
nutrition, but at the same time the dietitian must be careful not to overfeed the patient,
especially in cases were the patient is in danger of their condition worsening if they are
given too much. This will be useful when working as a dietitian in a hospital because it
has taught me to make sure I tailor the nutrition prescription to each patient, to ensure the

best quality care for them.

KRD 4.3 - Through the Community Nutrition class, I learned what public policy is and
how it will affect my daily life as a dietitian. I learned that policies will determine what
services I offer and the focus of the nutrition messages I will provide. I learned the
elements of nutrition policy, what health claims are allowed on food/beverages, and how
to stay up to date on proposed regulations through the Federal Register. I also learned
about ANDPAC, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics advocacy group. As a dietitian,
it will be important for me to keep up with law changes and work with advocacy groups

in the field of nutrition to make sure that I am providing the best care.
KRD 4.4 - In the class Professionalism in Dietetics, I learned how health care policy can
affect different delivery systems on food and nutrition services. One example of this is
that Medicare recently started covering MNT for certain conditions. This allows more

people to be able to speak with a dietitian and creates more work for dietitians.
KRD 4.5 - In the Professionalism in Dietetics class, I also learned about coding and
billing. I got to practice filling out a form to be billed and learned the importance of
diagnosing someone with something that can actually be used for billing. This could be
useful in all nutrition fields, but especially for a dietitian who works in private practice.

Foundation knowledge

KRD 5.1 - I learned the principles of food science through the classes Quantity Food
Production and Food Science and Technology. In Quantity Food Production, I learned
things like what temperatures are safe to hold food at and management practices that a
dietitian in food service could utilize. Through the lab, I got hands on experience working
in the UNCG dining services and saw the importance of safe food preparation. I also got
to participate in safe food production at UNCG through this lab. In Quantity Food
Production, I also learned how to design a menu that was acceptable to a diverse group
and was varied enough to be considered acceptable. As project for that class, I designed a
kitchen layout, picked the type of food service the facility would be offering, described
employees I would need, and designed a menu. Through Food Science and Technology, I
learned the science behind cooking. In the lab, I got to experiment with different
substitutions in recipes and making foods I had never made before. As a final project, I
created a yogurt thickened with things other than gelatin. I then tested the product to find
which substitution was most well received. The principles of food science and food
systems I learned during these classes will be helpful as a dietitian and as a dietary

manager.
KRD 5.2 - The physical and biological sciences all built on each other and gave me the
knowledge of biological processes I needed in order to fully understand the advanced
Nutrition courses. Organic Chemistry, Physiology, Microbiology, Nutrition and Human
Metabolism, Intermediate Nutrition, Statistics, and Nutrition Through the Life Cycle all
built the foundation of knowledge that I needed to succeed in Advanced Nutrition and
Medical Nutrition Therapy. My knowledge of the physical and biological sciences is
currently useful because it helps me understand scientific research and will be useful in

the future when I need to explain research, a newly diagnosed disease, or anything else

when counseling a patient.

KRD 5.3 - Psychology and International Nutrition increased my knowledge of the
behavioral and social sciences. Psychology was not a nutrition course, but it helped me
understand why people make certain choices. International Nutrition taught me how
vastly different peoples diets can be and barriers that might be faced when working with
people who are a different race, nationality, or religion from me. I learned that it is
important to have cultural competence when working with people who are different than
me. In International Nutrition, as part of becoming culturally competent, I learned what
foods people like to eat in other cultures, which will be useful when making a diet plan
for someone who is from another country because I will already have an idea of what is
popular in their culture and can use that to make better recommendations.