Full Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes
International (Non EEA) applicants currently residing outside of the EEA Region. Yes

• This full time programme is designed to be completed over two academic years.
• Lectures and placements normally occur from Monday-Friday.
• UCD expects that students undertaking the programme are aware of the following:
  • Practice placements are compulsory and may take place throughout the Irish Republic.
  • Placements are unpaid and may require temporary relocation. 
  • Students are responsible for their upkeep, lodging and travel during placements. 
  • Practice placements take place in a variety of different learning environments including community and GP clinics, hospitals, healthcare facilities, large scale catering and nutrition industry environments.
• Assessment strategies include continuous assessment, assignments, projects, and examinations.
• Exit routes from this programme include: Graduate Certificate in Clinical Nutrition, Graduate Diploma in Clinical Nutrition, and MSc Health Sciences (Nutrition).
• Graduates availing of these exit routes will not be eligible to apply to the Dietitians Registration Board (CORU) for registration as a dietitian.  
• UCD expects that students who register for its programmes are in a position to commit to attendance and being available on scheduled programme, placement and assessment dates. 

The MSc in Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics programme aims to provide a postgraduate programme in clinical nutrition and dietetics that will develop competent practitioners in clinical nutrition and dietetics eligible to apply for CORU Dietitian Registration Board registration as Dietitians. Graduates of the programme will have a strong professional identity and understanding of their role in the wider healthcare context and their contribution as part of a multidisciplinary team, and will demonstrate well-developed autonomous learning skills. The educational philosophy of the MSc Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics programme is to provide a stimulating and collaborative educational environment which will build on existing graduate knowledge, skills and attributes. Student learning will be facilitated through a student-centred approach, involving experiential practice placement learning, so that graduates will have the opportunity to develop professional excellence. The curriculum introduces students to core theoretical and professional concepts in clinical nutrition and dietetics and these concepts are returned to at more advanced levels as the programme progresses, allowing students to develop professional proficiency. The programme design is strongly influenced by the current and future needs of clinical nutrition and dietetics practice and by the provision of student-centred learning in an environment where research and scholarship stimulate high achievement and access to cutting edge knowledge.

1. Meet the standards of proficiency specified by Irish and international regulatory and professional bodies.
2. Integrate independent, autonomous and problem-solving professional values and skills into daily practice and promote these in a wider societal context.
3. Act as reflective practitioners and demonstrate a commitment to lifelong learning, research and audit within the field of clinical nutrition and dietetics.
4. Engage with the professional education of students, colleagues and other health professionals to foster an ethos of continuing learning and knowledge sharing.
5. Acquire the relevant knowledge of underpinning nutrition principles, clinical nutrition and dietetic practice.
6. Demonstrate professional competence, using an evidence-based approach, in clinical nutrition and dietetic practice within the multidisciplinary healthcare environment.
7. Competently assess nutritional status, identify the nutrition diagnosis/problem, intervene, monitor and evaluate nutrition and dietetic interventions in patients, clients and groups.
8. Plan, design, execute and report on a piece of independent research of high scientific merit.

View All Modules Here

Modules include

• Dietetics through the Lifecycle
• Dietetics Professional Practice 1 and 2
• Medicine for Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics
• Nutrition Communication
• Clinical Nutrition
• Health Promotion
• Nutrition Epidemiology
• Applied Nutrition for Health, Exercise and Sports Performance
• Practice Placement
• Advanced Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics
• International Health in Action

Fees include tuition and examination fees. The fee schedule for all programmes is shown on the UCD Fees website (http://www.ucd.ie/fees/) and refers to the fee for a single academic year, including the fee schedule for non-EU nationals and the annual fee for the outgoing year.

• The MSc in Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics welcomes International applications.
• Applicants whose first language is not English and whose primary degree was obtained in a country where English is not the official language of instruction must provide proof of proficiency in English such as IELTS or TOEFL.
• The original certificate of completion of an English language test must be submitted with the application (IELTS score of 7.0 (or equivalent) with no element below 6.5)
• Test results must not be more than 2 years old.

• Applicants should hold a second class honours degree (2.1 or 2.2 in exceptional circumstances e.g. extensive prior clinical experience) or higher in science e.g. biochemistry, food science, human biology, human nutrition, nutritional science, pharmacology, physiology, in health sciences e.g. medicine, nursing or a health and social care profession or in sports performance science.
• Prior qualifications should include evidence of study of human biochemistry and physiology or other relevant degree discipline from a recognised university.
• Good communication skills are essential. Candidates may be interviewed.
• Two references should be included with the online application, one of which should be an academic reference and one an employment-related reference.
• Garda vetting is required, prior to undertaking practice placements.
• All students must attend UCD Student Health Services for pre-entry screening and must be compliant with Irish Immunisation Guidelines. All costs associated with health screening and vaccination must be met by the student. 

• In exceptional circumstances, where an individual has substantial and significant experiential learning, a portfolio of written evidence demonstrating the meeting of graduate qualities (including subject-specific outcomes, as determined by the Course Committee) may be considered as an alternative entrance route.  Evidence used to demonstrate graduate qualities may not be used for exemption against modules within the programme.

• Please note, the closing date for applications is June 20th

Applicants apply using the UCD online application system. To apply, simply click on http://www.ucd.ie/apply and follow the instructions. A non-refundable application fee applies. The application fee is paid online.