Curriculum

Administrative Dietetics: An understanding of the roles and responsibilities of all levels of food service systems management and Dietetic Service Administration will be gained throughout unit assignments.  Administrative dietetic experiences include food production and service, food service management and supervision, menu planning, employee education, administrative dietetics and departmental administration.  Learning is facilitated using a project-based administrative rotation. Management projects are based on practical needs identified in the department. Intern recommendations are intended for implementation, and utilization for department improvement.  Interns learn life long skills of planning and coordination, time management and critical thinking.

Clinical Dietetics: The clinical component of the program is designed to provide practical experiences in nutritional care of patients including nutrition assessment, nutrition diagnosis, nutrition intervention, and nutrition monitoring and evaluation.  Patient education as well as active participation in the multidisciplinary health care team is emphasized.  The clinical rotations include specialized treatment in the areas of cardiology, endocrinology, nephrology, neurology, neuropsychiatric care, nursing home care, nutritional support team, oncology, pulmonary disease, rehabilitation medicine, substance abuse, and surgical and critical care.  The VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System and the Long Beach VA Medical Center serve as sites for the clinical experiences. Experiences in pediatric nutritional are provided in affiliation with Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. 

Community Dietetics: The VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (VAGLA) and the local community are utilized as sites for providing experiences in community dietetics. Experiences at the West Los Angeles Medical Center are planned using outpatient nutrition clinic programs including primary care, cardiac rehabilitation, home based primary care, and women's clinic. Experiences are also planned at the Long Beach VA Medical Center, Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center and the Los Angeles Ambulatory Care Center using outpatient primary care nutrition clinic programs. An affiliation with the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) includes experiences in assessing and counseling prenatal clients as well as infants and children from low-income areas. An affiliation with either Head Start or AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) provides interns with hands-on experience in community nutrition. In addition, Dietetic interns are also responsible for the planning and implementation of the Medical Center's National Nutrition Month program.

Didactic Classes:  Didactic classes, usually held on Mondays, are coordinated with the supervised practice units of our program. During the summer, VAGLA hosts these classes at the West Los Angeles facility. Medical and allied health professional staff members from VAGLA serve as instructors . Beginning in the fall and for the remainder of the program, classes are arranged with the Greater Los Angles Dietetic Internship Coalition (GLADIC) which include the following Dietetic Internship programs:  L.A. County+U.S.C. Medical Center; Glendale Memorial Hospital; Olive View Medical Center; Patton State Hospital; California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; California State University, Long Beach; Public Health Foundation WIC; and the Northeast Valley Health Corporation WIC. The location for these classes can be at any of the facilities or areas covered by the GLADIC.  Therefore, a car is required and interns are responsible for transportation to these classes.  The GLADIC classes provide interns with an opportunity to network with interns and dietitians from other local institutions.

Master of Public Health Degree at UCLA: The graduate study program leading to the MPH degree in the Department of Community Health Sciences focuses on the health-related behaviors of individuals within the context of the social structure, community, health care system and family unit.  Of particular interest is how health-related behaviors of individuals are influenced by and interact with conditions in the social, cultural, physical and biological environment to influence health status with particular emphasis on identifying, evaluating and discouraging health-damaging behaviors and facilitating health-promoting behaviors.  The department's curriculum seeks to integrate basic and applied public health theories and methods in applying them to real problems of human populations.  Assessment, planning and evaluation are common themes in the department's educational programs.

Master of Science Degree Nutritional Science at CSULB:  The graduate study program leading to the MS degree in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences provides an opportunity for students to increase competence in food and nutrition subject matter in preparation for college teaching, research, graduate study beyond a master's degree and administrative positions in public and private agencies.