The Bachelor of Science in Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics program at Vincent Pol University aims to prepare graduates for a professional career in the field of dietetics, either working with patients as part of a medical therapeutic team or with clients/healthy individuals with special nutritional needs related to sports and fitness training or health-promoting lifestyles. The program is based on the European trend of treating dietetics as a medical profession, and as such, it emphasizes the importance of medical and health sciences in diagnosing the nutritional state and mode of nutrition and planning nutritional management.
The program offers two specializations: Clinical Dietetics and Nutrition in Sports and Fitness. Both specializations focus on developing practical skills and knowledge in dietotherapy, clinical dietetics, and clinical nutrition. However, the Nutrition in Sports and Fitness specialization also covers the theoretical foundations of sports and fitness, sports and health training, and nutrition in specific sports and fitness disciplines. Students can choose a specialization based on their interests and career aspirations.
The first-cycle education in health and medical sciences and food and nutrition sciences is common to all students and provides a strong foundation for continuing education. The curriculum also includes theoretical and practical training in the diagnosis of the mode of nutrition and nutritional status, allowing students to gain the competence to correctly assess the initial state of nutritional intervention. In addition, the program covers food science and nutrition, including food technology, food chemistry and biochemistry, food microbiology, and the fundamentals of human nutrition in health at different stages of the life cycle.
Graduates of the program will be well-prepared to work in various settings, including public and non-public medical entities, private and public dietetic clinics, institutions of collective nutrition of the closed type, catering companies, consumer organizations, sports and recreation facilities, fitness clubs, sports clubs, internet portals that promote the principles of rational nutrition, and media outlets that require professional educational materials on human nutrition and dietetics. The program's duration is three years (six semesters), and the language of instruction is English. The program offers 180 ECTS credits, and the mode of study is full-time.