Curriculum Overview
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SUNY Oneonta's online M.S. Nutrition and Dietetics Program curriculum is designed to provide students with the expected clinical care, food service-management and other skills and competencies that the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has established for entry-level Registered Dietitian Nutritionists. A full view of the program's curriculum can be found on the program page. The program encompasses the ACEND Accreditation Standards for Future Education Model Graduate Programs in Nutrition and Dietetics. Students who complete all 12 graduate courses (with a grade of B or better for each) and meet the supervised experiential learning requirements of the program will receive an Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics "Verification Statement" and are eligible to take the Credentialing Exam for Registered Dietitians.
The program has a philosophy of service learning, defined as "experiential education that intentionally offers equal benefit to the provider and the graduate student." Our students complete service- learning projects/experiences as an integral part of the program. These experiences have been developed according to the 10 nationally recognized Principles of Good Practice for Combining Service and Learning.
Program Schedule & Experience Overview
The program begins with a virtual orientation program for all students. The first four courses begin in the summer, with four more in the fall, and the final four in the spring semester. Therefore, graduate students complete the program in May, approximately one year after their start date.
The learning and experiences included in each graduate course parallel those of the graduate student's supervised experiential learning. For example, while the graduate student is doing supervised experiential learning with hospital patients who have diabetes their online class experiences might include reading about diabetes research, participating in online discussions of new ways to educate and treat diabetes, learning how to assess the needs of patients with diabetes as well as how to develop a nutritional diagnosis and developing and critiquing culturally sensitive materials used in teaching diabetics. Graduate students complete the program in May of the following year.
The supervised experiential learning hours for the program are divided as outlined on the course schedule, and more information about experiences is detailed on the Facilities & Preceptors section of the program's website. Since many Food and Nutrition services are provided to hospitalized patients and clients with varied schedules, students can expect to be scheduled for duty on Saturdays, Sundays and during holidays and vacations including early and late shifts. To obtain the benefits of the planned learning experiences, the student's educational schedule is geared to conform to that of each unit's staff. The graduate student's experiential learning hours will typically coincide with the time that the preceptor is scheduled to be in the unit or facility. Supervised experiential learning hours do not include break time, meal time or travel time. Site preceptors will inform graduate student interns of their scheduled meal times. Days off and scheduled hours will vary and are subject to change to accommodate facility requirements.