The Next Generation of Dietitians: Implementing Dietetics Education and Practice in Integrative Medicine

Abstract

Integrative medicine is a quickly expanding field of health care that emphasizes nutrition as a key component. Dietitians and nutritionists have an opportunity to meet workforce demands by practicing dietetics and integrative medicine (DIM). The purpose of this article is to describe a DIM education program and practicum. We report the results of an interprofessional nutrition education and practicum program between the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) Department of Dietetics and Nutrition and KU Integrative Medicine. This partnered program provides training that builds on the strong foundation of the Nutrition Care Process and adds graduate-level educational and practicum experiences in foundational integrative medicine knowledge, including nutritional approaches from a systems biology perspective, nutrigenomics, and biochemistry as the core knowledge to understand the root cause of a chronic disorder and to choose appropriate nutritional tools for interventions. This interprofessional KUMC program provides a dietetic internship, master's degree, and graduate certificate in DIM and fulfills a need for dietitians and nutritionists who seek careers practicing in an integrative medicine setting. The program fulfills expanding workforce needs to provide quality health care for patients with chronic illnesses.

Nutrition Professionals' Confidence Recommending Integrative Medicine Modalities

“…Advancing professional skills and collaborating with other health professionals as part of an interprofessional team is necessary to promote continuous quality improvement for patients 27. Because IM is such a rapidly growing practice area, it is important that RDs meet workforce demands 28. Scientific evidence supporting IM approaches is growing; however, there is an additional need for resources in this area, including access to peer-reviewed journal articles for all RDs to stay informed of evidence-based practices 29.…”

“…27 Because IM is such a rapidly growing practice area, it is important that RDs meet workforce demands. 28 Scientific evidence supporting IM approaches is growing; however, there is an additional need for resources in this area, including access to peer-reviewed journal articles for all RDs to stay informed of evidence-based practices. 29 Based upon these results, it would also be beneficial to develop programs that would provide consistent, high-quality IM education.…”