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Clinical Nutrition

Academics
Courses offered:
B.Sc (Clinical Nutrition - 3 Years) - Eligibility: Higher secondary with Nutrition and Dietetics/ Home science / Basic science subjects with physics, chemistry, botany and zoology / Biology and / or / Mathematics / computer science
Mode of Admission – Merit and Interview
No of seats -30
Clinical ward postings from 2nd year
University exam at the end of each semester 

M.Sc (Clinical Nutrition - 2 Years) - Eligibility: B.Sc - Food Service Management and Dietetics, Nutrition and Dietetics, Clinical Nutrition, 
Mode of Admission – Merit and Interview
No of seats -20
Includes six months Internship in the fourth semester as per the regulations of the Indian Dietetic Association Registration Board 
University exam at the end of each semester 

Training Provided:

RD INTERNSHIP (Duration - 6 months)
The department also offers registered dietitian internship (RD) for other candidates between January and July. The internship emphasis on clinical rotation in the multiplicities and aids in development of overall clinical acumen of an intern. The regulations of the RD board of IDA is strictly adhered to both in clinical rotations and evaluation.  There are four well equipped faculty to offer the training for the interns.

UNDER GRADUATE INTERNSHIP (15 days)
As a part of the UG course students are expected to undergo 15 days internship in a hospital.

At SRMC for 15 days the students are posted under a faculty who co ordinates all their activities. The students are exposed to various specialties. They are taken to the wards and allowed to observe and learn through hands on training of nutritional assessment and counseling. Students also get opportunity to interact with clinicians in their respective specialties.

Apart from these the department faculties are also involved in teaching and assessing their seminars. One day visit to the diet kitchen of our hospital will expose to the working of the Food Service department since in most hospitals dietitians as expected to handle patient care in term of food service as well. The dietary department serves on an average 600-750 patient per day.

The students are required to present a seminar & take up a written test. A logbook submission with the feedback form & a model is mandatory. At the end of this internship students become aware about the responsibilities of a clinical nutritionist. They also get a practical exposure of all that they had learned in a classroom and hence are able to understand the importance of clinical postings.

The department also extends training to undergraduate and postgraduate students from:
Nursing - B.Sc Nursing, Post basic Nursing and other nursing trainees
Physiotherapy 
Allied Health Science 
Master in Renal Science
Master of Public Health 
Students of ward technician certificate course

Teachers / Faculty Training:

Faculty Enrichment Program (FEP)
The department of clinical nutrition conducts Faculty Enrichment Program (FEP) biannually for the faculties of the department. The various topics discussed were
Role of faculty as Teacher, Trainer & Facilitator by Dr.SuhasPrabhakar, Professor of Ophthalmology, SRIHER.
Role of faculty as examiner and evaluator by Dr.Rekha, Associate Dean of students, SRIHER.
Mentorship by Prof.Leena Dennis Joseph Professor of Pathology, SRIHER.
Visual Activity by Ms.V.Supriya, Lecturer, department of Clinical Nutrition, SRIHER.
Leadership by Prof.Balagopal,Professor of Pediatric surgery, SRIHER.
Teaching methodology – beyond teaching by Dr.J.JuliusXavierScott,Professor of Pediatric, SRIHER.
“Quality indicators in evaluation” by Dr.D.Prathiba, Professor of Pathology, SRIHER
“Work an life balance” by Dr. Pazhaniappan, Professor of obstetrics and gynecology

Achievements:

The department has till now produced 135 post graduates and four PhD research scholars.  The department started offering a three year undergraduate program in clinical nutrition, where the clinical hands on training starts in the second year of the program the most unique component of the program.  The number of publications of the department has been increasing.  The post graduate students and PhD research scholars of the department receive prizes for their research works in various conferences and forums. 

The demand from aspiring students for both the UG and PG programs of the department is increasing year after year and the proportionate increase in the number of admitting seats by the university is a remarkable achievement of the department.

With the increasing number of patients seeking appropriate medical nutrition therapy, the number of dietitians at the medical center is also increased.  

Innovative teaching:
Bedside teaching at wards (3 hrs per day)
Didactic lectures (4 hrs per day)
Consultant classes from other specialties.
Seminars, Journal clubs, clinical case presentation.
Problem based learning sessions