CLINICAL NUTRITION AND DIETETICS - 2025/6

Module Overview

The primary purpose is to consolidate students theoretical and practical knowledge in the dietary management of key clinical specialties and patient groups. They should integrate their practical expertise and knowledge from their Placement with a more in depth understanding of the metabolic basis for the treatment of patients with specific diseases (focusing on those which they will meet in their first post as a dietitian). Understanding the evidence base of their practice is also a key aim. The students will have the ability to critically appraise the literature and understand when it should be used to inform and update current practice. Both assignments provide opportunities to apply, and receive feedback on, these skills as well as to apply their subject knowledge

Module provider

School of Biosciences

Module Leader

JEARY Caitlin (Biosciences)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 6

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

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

Successful completion of Dietetic  Placement B, AD2 and Placement C  

Module content

Indicative content includes (although lectures on specific conditions may change depending on discussion with students):

• Metabolic response to starvation, trauma, surgery and inflammation


• Routes of Nutrition support: careful hand-feeding, IDDSI and modified textures, supplements, tube feeding and intravenous feeding


• Evidence based practice; how to appraise a paper, when to apply it to your current practice


• Ethics of feeding choices


• Cancer – role of dietitian in treatment and prevention


• The gut: immunity, inflammation, pancreatitis and IBS


• Ketogenic diets and epilepsy


• Bariatric surgery


• Diabetes


• Eating disorders


• Preparation for interviews 


• Non-nutritive components of food; Fibre and probiotics


• Other relevant topics may be included such as COVID, treatment of MND to demonstrate latest practice


• Professional attributes including leadership


• Practical experience: 
  
  
  
  • Involvement in Be Your Best, sim suite with other MDT students and completion of case studies to continue to show practical competence
  
  
  • Case study based Tutorials:
  
  
  
  


• Topic based refresher & revision throughout the module


• Coursework feedback


• Discussion with Dietitians who have taken alternative career pathways eg in industry and research 

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy of the coursework is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate that they:

·         Have a sound knowledge of and be able to discuss the current dietetic management of key clinical areas and specialties with particular reference to those experienced by the graduate dietitian in community and acute settings

·         Can source, critically appraise and apply the current evidence base for dietary management strategies and discuss the process of achieving change within dietetic practice

The exam is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate that all learning outcomes have been achieved and that they have the knowledge expected of a Band 5 dietitian

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

·         Students work in groups of three to appraise the current evidence including summarising a current guideline for treatment of a specific case. Each group presents this appraisal for 15 minutes in front of 8-10 of their peers (50% of coursework marks). Students hand in an individual 500 word summary which should be referenced appropriately.

·         The exam is open book and is 4 hours long and is comprised of 2 sections; a theory section and a case study. There is a choice of 4 questions in each section. One  question to be answered from each section

Formative assessment and feedback

Case studies are discussed throughout the module in each lecture. 

Module aims

• consolidate students theoretical and practical knowledge in the dietary management of key clinical specialties and patient groups
• enable the student to critically appraise the literature and understand when it should be used to alter current practice
• enable the student to be fully competent in understanding and applying the model and process for nutrition and dietetics practice for a range of patients
• enable the student to understand and debate the ethical implications of providing nutritional support
• develop an understanding of the metabolic and biochemical disturbances likely to be present in the catabolic and cachexic hospital patient especially in relation to gut function and systemic nutrient utilisation and balance. To be able to use this knowledge to devise appropriate care plans
• provide the opportunity for students to continue to develop communication, team working and presentation skills
• enable the student to understand the range and application of conventional and novel strategies available for nutritional support and be able to apply the appropriate strategy in their care plan
• allow students to develop confidence and competence so that having successfully completed their training they will be eligible on graduation to register as a dietitian with the HCPC

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

Provide students with the most up-to-date knowledge (in line with University L&T strategy), by inviting dietitians who are at the top of their field i.e. Band 7/8a dietitians and who are engaging in research themselves . This will improve their employability as it will be clear when they have an interview that they are understand Clinical Governance and how they can apply this by engaging in evidence based practice. 
Their skills for independent study  are also developed as they have to critically appraise the literature in order to prepare their presentation and précis and they can also use case studies which are provided on SurreyLearn  to prepare for the exam. The BDA also require that dietetic students, where the Programme does not include a Placement at the end of the academic studies, maintain some consistency and opportunities for students to show they have met standards for registration with HCPC. Programmes which include an extended academic period after the final practice based learning should demonstrate how competence to practice is maintained until the point of graduation’. Therefore Students will be expected to show engagement in BMS3068 (their final core module for dietetics) and will be expected to attend 80% of the sessions named as workshops which will include case study discussion and students will also be offered other opportunities such as engagement in public health programmes and interaction with MDT.

The learning and teaching methods include:

•  lectures and workshops: all of which contain case studies and calculations which the students have to engage in as a PSRB requirement – usually in pairs, before contributing their answers to their peers. Opportunity to participate in Be Your Best and take part in work with member of the MDT eg nursing in sim suite exercises
•  revision lectures of course content halfway and at the end of the module to discuss the material. Students work individually to prepare a revision question then work in groups to prepare and present a summary of the answer. Feedback is immediate and the responses are posted on SurreyLearn
• Student led learning: students work in small groups to critically prepare a case study in line with the Dietetic model and Process and summarise a current guideline which is relevant to the case study. Each group presents in front of their peers. This results in deeper knowledge of specific topics which are relevant to the lectures. Students hand in an individual 500 word summary of their presentation.

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: BMS3068

Other information

• Employability: In this module, students are trained and encouraged to employ their knowledge of dietetics to a range of clinical conditions with which they are likely to work in the future, and to really appreciate the needs, agendas and priorities of people with these conditions and their facilitators of and barriers to change.  Students are supported to develop their transferable writing, research and critical appraisal skills explicitly, through the two summative assignments, and implicitly through the in-class activities and tutorials. Time management and organizational skills are reinforced by the setting of interim deadlines for assignments, the assignment briefs for which are made available from week 1 to encourage students to spread out and plan their workload across the semester. Students will complete the module with an understanding of the most up-to-date UK policies, documents and evidence related to the nutritional requirements of people with specific conditions. They will have practiced their dietetic skills either through case studies or though involvement in Be Your Best or other multidisciplinary work. Students receive information on how recognize a safe scope of practice and work in a professional manner in the future.
• Sustainability Through lectures looking at older adults and specific conditions such as cancer and obesity, also through working with families from deprived areas of Surrey, students are encouraged to discuss the implications of shifting to more plant-based eating, for the individual and society, to recognize the implications of an aging society for future healthcare and to understand the cost-benefit ratio of different disease treatment approaches at both an individual and societal level. 
• Resourcefulness and Resilience:   The teaching of this module provides a scaffold around which students need to apply their knowledge and resourcefulness to solve problems and demonstrate innovation.  Through critically appraising and developing novel foods, pre and probiotics and diets, participating in Be Your Best or other multidisciplinary work, and gathering and interpreting evidence.  The nature of the assessments and formative activities in class are such that students will be required to draw upon their individual and collective resourcefulness, often working in partnership with other students to work through cases and innovate solutions. 
• Digital Capabilities: Students are encouraged to work independently and in groups and to access the module content both face to face and via Panopto, Zoom and Surreylearn. Communication via online discussion boards is encouraged and appropriate online behaviours are modelled. Students are also encouraged to access relevant online documents and datasets, including the most up to date dietetic and nutritional recommendations to support their learning. 
• Global and cultural capabilities: Students are encouraged to really try and ‘put themselves in the shoes’ of the people with the specific clinical condition discussed to appreciate the social, psychological and medical factors influencing their behaviours and their ability to change these behaviours.  This includes, but is not limited to, an appreciation of the impact of low income and chronic disease on diet and lifestyle and an understanding of the key inequalities in UK health and disease including how ethnicity impacts health and nutrition behaviours. 

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 2025/6 academic year.