Curriculum

The 34-credit Master of Science program in Nutrition and Dietetics: Foods and Nutrition is a program for students who already hold professional credentials (RN, MD, DDS, RPh, PT) or who have trained and worked as a nutritionist in another country. This program provides advanced academic training in food and nutrition to further enhance your career. 

Core Course Sequence

In the 34-credit MS Foods and Nutrition program, you will complete graduate-level courses in advanced nutrition science, research & statistics, food studies, and elective coursework. You will learn to critically analyze recent research studies in the field to engage in evidenced-based practice and explore specialized fields within healthcare.

Sample Courses

Maternal/Child Nutrition

This course explores the principles and application of nutrition for healthy mothers, infants, children, and adolescents with emphasis on current research related to normal growth and development.

Sports Nutrition    

This course explores the evaluation and application of nutrition concepts related to the energy, fluid and nutrient requirements of athletes and physically active individuals: diet-related physiology, trends in sports nutrition, special conditions affecting athletic performance and techniques for counseling athletes.

Food Systems

The core Food Systems course covers the US food system from an applied economic perspective, recognizing that the food system operates in a market. We begin by studying the mechanics of the different stages of the food system: farm, distribution, retailing and consumer. The course then turns to social and environmental costs of the food system. After covering the strengths and weakness of the food system, students explore topics such as sustainability, globalization, resiliency, consumer choice, and equity.

Culminating Experience

The program culminates in a capstone project through either the Research Applications or Research Apprenticeship course where theoretical and applied aspects of research design, data analysis and interpretation are presented. You will formulate an independent research question and then conduct, analyze, and summarize your findings via a written manuscript and oral presentation to your peers and nutrition faculty members.