Laurel, Md. – Maryland University of Integrative Health has added a pathway for registered dietitians (RD) into its Doctor of Clinical Nutrition (DCN) program. This provides RDs whose highest degree is a bachelor’s degree with the opportunity to receive a doctoral degree in a little over two and a half years.
Through this program, RDs will deepen their clinical nutrition knowledge and skills and be equipped with the tools they need to expand the types of clients and cases they work with, including individuals with complex clinical conditions. RDs will deepen their knowledge and skills in functional nutrition and personalized nutrition to address the unique health goals and needs of individuals. Students can build their professional portfolios by completing rigorous case reports and preparing original clinical nutrition manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals.
The program addresses five of the six 2021 trends in nutrition noted by the American Nutrition Association – immune resilience, microbiome boom, mental health nutrition, new directions in nutrition research, high tech innovations, and equipping practitioners for the future.
“MUIH is pleased to offer this new route to professional advancement. It allows RDs the chance to: earn the title doctor (Dr.), enhance their stature with clients, other healthcare professionals, expand their job opportunities, and career paths,” said Dr. Christina Sax, Provost and Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs. The program is completed primarily online and requires students to come to campus for coursework on just four extended weekends over the entirety of the program.
The program is grounded in MUIH’s holistic and natural approach to health and wellness, and its long-standing expertise in nutrition. MUIH began offering nutrition degrees in 2011 and added the Doctor of Clinical Nutrition degree in 2015. MUIH has offered online courses and programs since 2013.
The critical role that nutrition plays in health, disease, and healing is now well documented, particularly in areas such as cardiovascular health, osteoporosis, diabetes, and obesity, as well as mental health and certain cancers and other diseases on a global scale.1 Six in ten Americans have a chronic disease, and nutrition is one of the four key lifestyle risks for developing a chronic disease.2
About Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH)
Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH) is a leading academic institution focused on the study and practice of integrative health and wellness and one of the few universities in the U.S. dedicated solely to such practices. Deeply rooted in a holistic philosophy, its model for integrative health and wellness is grounded in whole-person, relationship-centered, evidence-informed care.
Since 1974, MUIH has been a values-driven community educating practitioners and professionals to become future health and wellness leaders through transformative programs grounded in traditional wisdom and contemporary science. MUIH has more than 20 progressive graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines, offered on-campus and online.
In the on-campus Natural Care Center and community outreach settings, MUIH provides compassionate and affordable healthcare from student interns and professional practitioners, which delivers more than 20,000 clinical treatments and consultations each year.
For more information visit www.muih.edu.
1World Health Organization, Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases, 2002. https://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/trs916/summary/en/
2Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Chronic Diseases in American. https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/pdf/infographics/chronic-disease-H.pdf