NUTRITION & DIETETICS: PLACEMENT C - 2023/4

Module Overview

The third Placement, C is taken during the third year of University, the PTY or professional training year. The majority of the time will be spent at a clinical healthcare setting between the period of (February-July) for a 12 week placement. It may also include community-based initiatives and applied academic tasks during the previous and following academic years. Placement C will continue to support the students to become competent in translating theory to practice and demonstrate the range of skills needed to work as a newly qualified dietitian. This placement will enable students to consolidate their learning and when successfully passed completes the clinical components of training required to be a dietitian.

Module provider

School of Biosciences

Module Leader

NORRIS Emily (Biosciences)

Number of Credits: 0

ECTS Credits: 0

Framework: Professional Training Year

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

Successful completion of Placement A BMSP008 Placement B BMSP002 Applied Dietetics 2 (AD2)

Module content

Practical dietetic placement involving a 12-week clinical placement in a healthcare setting, in addition to contributing to community-based initiatives.

Students will continue to develop knowledge, understanding and be able to demonstrate the range of professional skills and competencies during their clinical placement as per the learning outcomes. Students will see a range of different patient groups and clinical conditions and be able apply their theoretical knowledge to practice. Students will demonstrate competence in communication skills with individuals and with groups and ability to justify and feed back to their dietitian supervisors. They will utilise all knowledge gained and skills developed during their previous modules and Placement B. This will support their knowledge and understanding of teaching during their final year Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics module. 

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate:

• They can show the competencies expected for a student dietitian at this level of their programme and to meet all the learning outcomes

• Clinical Placement: students have to demonstrate and collect evidence to showcase  competency in each learning outcome for Placement C. The individual learning outcomes will then be signed off as achieved by their supervisor/s once they have collected sufficient evidence. A final report will be completed at the end of placement by the main student lead/manager, with a pass or fail outcome. Students have to pass all learning outcome to pass placement overall.

• Written and verbal feedback provided during the 12 week clinical placement by trained dietetic clinical supervisors


• Individual debrief with personal tutor following completion of all elements of Placement C

Module aims

• Become competent in translating theory into practice for service users seen in Placement C
• Become competent in obtaining information from service users and giving dietary advice
• Communicate with a diverse range of individuals using appropriate interpersonal, social and counselling skills
• Communicate and interact with dietitians and other health care professionals in a confident and respectful manner
• Become competent with managing a workload comparable to that of a newly qualified band 5 dietitian, in line with HCPC Standards
• Show a commitment to the delivery of an explicit quality of service

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

• Meet the professional competencies required for this level of dietetic training. Allowing opportunities to practice and demonstrate relevant skills such as information gathering, communication skills, record keeping, analysing gathered information to complete a patient consultation competently as per the British Dietetic Associations Model and process of dietetic practice. 


• Enable students to gain knowledge and demonstrate competence in dietetic care planning for a range of clinical conditions.


• Work with a range of other health professionals within a multidisciplinary setting to demonstrate competent team working skills which will support future team working within modules and working as part of a team in a healthcare setting.


• Apply the use of reflective skills in practice when considering their own development on Placement. This will continue to support their peer-to-peer reflective feedback sessions during future modules and understand the use of constructive feedback in their own progression. 

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: BMSP003

Other information

Digital Capabilities: Students will be required to prepare and use relevant presenting platforms to present their findings from case studies during their placements. They will be using online NHS/healthcare systems to explore biochemistry, medical and dietetic notes to support their assessment as well as maintaining a professional portfolio.

Employability: Placement C is an opportunity to be immersed in the professional environment, working with service users, registered dietitians and other health professionals to demonstrate the appropriate skills of a student dietitian at this level of study. Having the opportunity to develop different skills such as building a rapport with service users and carers, communication skills with multidisciplinary team members, understanding the importance of maintaining a professional portfolio and managing their time supports the students with their future employability.

Resourcefulness and Resilience: Students have to complete applied tasks and a portfolio alongside the practical sessions as part of their Placement C. This will provide students the ability to enhance their time management and organisation skills in addition to demonstrating this in a period of consolidation. In addition, they will need to lead on their own professional development by completing and discussing their reflections with their supervising dietitians and peers.

Sustainability: During their clinical placement, students will be exposed to the working environment of a dietitian and will begin to understand the importance of appropriate nutritional care planning in a hospital and home setting. This includes being aware of practical food fortification as a first line approach and when it would be appropriate to trial alternative options such as oral nutrition support. This gives greater understanding of the cost-benefit to dietetic care planning.

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2023/4 academic year.