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Course Goal
To understand the etiology of the major disease states and the role of
nutrition in the prevention and treatment of them.
Course Objectives/Outcomes
Given a case study, be able to evaluate the health status of the client and
formulate an appropriate nutritional therapy using the latest research
findings.
Upon successful completion of this course the student will be able to:
1. Describe and discuss the etiology of the diseases/disorders most commonly
seen in clinical practice.
2. Critically analyze the information provided by the client
and evaluate what additional information is required.
3. Demonstrate an ability to successfully counsel clients with various
personality types.
4. Search for, retrieve and analyze research studies to
evaluate
nutritional alternatives.
5. Assess information to formulate a comprehensive treatment
protocol that includes diet, lifestyle modifications, and the therapeutic use
of vitamins, minerals and herbs in various clinical situations.
Course Description
Nutritional Therapeutics is given in the last semester of the Masters
Program. At this point in the program students are expected to have a
thorough understanding and knowledge of the biochemistry of nutrition, pathophysiology of diseases, functions and metabolism of
vitamins and minerals and ability to assess nutritional status. In
Nutritional Therapeutics, the student is given the opportunity to apply this
knowledge in the practical application of nutritional therapies in a wide
variety of disease states.
This is the course that most students see as the culmination of their
learning experience. Everything that has been learned before has been in
preparation for this course. It is here that the practical, hands on
knowledge is learned; tying all the previous course information together. For
those students who are interested in actually doing nutritional counseling,
this is the course where they will gain proficiency in the appropriate
nutritional therapies.
Course Organization and Schedule
Below is the outline for the course. The dates indicate the beginning date of
that week's discussion. Topics start on Friday so that you can have the
weekend to get a good start on the discussion.
Module 1 - Chronic Degenerative Disorders
March 17 – Welcome and Introduction. Choose your topics, post and
begin work on Research Paper and Obesity assignment. Begin reading
assignments.
March 21 – Introduction to Paleolithic Diet, Importance of Essential
Fats, Role of Inflammation in Disease
March 28 - Syndrome X, Obesity/Weight Loss
April 4- Hypoglycemia, Diabetes
April 11 - Hypercholesterolemia, Hypertriglyceridemia
April 18 - Atherosclerosis, Hypertension, Homocysteinemia
Module 2 - Gastrointestinal Related Disorders
April 25 - Dysbiosis, Leaky Gut, Candidiasis
Research
Papers due –Postmarked and posted on Bb by
this date. Begin discussions
May 2 - Continue discussions of research paper topics
May 9 - Eczema/Psoriasis, Asthma/Sinusitis
May 16 - Ulcers, Irritable Bowel Syndrome
May 23 - Heavy Metals, Environmental & Food Intolerance
Module 3 - Immune System Disorders
May 30 - Arthritis, HIV/AIDS
June 6 - CFIDS, Fibromyalgia
Module 4 - Hormone Based Disorders
June 13 - Hyperestrogenism: PMS,
Menopause
June 20 - Osteoporosis, Benign Prostatic
Hyperplasia
Module 5 - Cancer
June 27 - Prevention Strategies, Complementary Support Programs
July 4 – FINAL CASE STUDY
July 11 – HARD COPY OF FINAL CASE STUDY MUST BE RECEIVED BY THIS DATE
Course Requirements and Grading
There will be no tests, quizzes or proctored finals in this course!
Yes, you are reading this correctly. This course is designed to help you gain
proficiency in counseling clients/patients in alternative and complementary
nutritional therapies, not in memorizing isolated facts or statistics.
Class Participation
Class participation will count for 50% of your grade. You will be graded on
the content of your participation. This part of your grade is largely based
on my subjective evaluation of the quality of your participation. Although it
would be much easier for me to use objective testing, the benefit to you is
much greater in the long run. It allows you creative freedom and the
opportunity to use critical thinking. I am not just looking for you to
respond to my questions; I will be evaluating the type of discussions you
have as a group, the questions you ask each other and the answers you give.
TAKE NOTE:
Quality responses are those that are thoughtful, well considered, concise and, most importantly, completely relevant to
the case study. Contributions that add irrelevant information or
go off on a tangent to our case, reiterate previously posted information,
long-winded responses, and ESPECIALLY those that are just paragraphs of information copied from outside
sources will NOT earn a good grade. I want only original commentary (your own words).
Copying abstracts of studies is fine as long as they are
relevant and you preface each one with your critical interpretation of what
the study demonstrates.
You may also post the links to websites you feel have good
information, however, DO NOT cut and paste the information into your response. You may
quote something or someone as long as it is clearly marked in quotation ( “ “) marks and the reference is cited.
Your personal experience is very valuable and welcome in our discussions.
However, if you have not done any consulting don't worry, any outside reading
that highlights or adds to the information in the discussion will be most
welcomed. However, you must include citations/references to back up your
contributions or it will not be graded favorably. I repeat again, when citing
a research study, do not just copy in the abstract. Either summarize the
major details of the study in your own words, how it applies to our
discussion of the topic, and give the reference for those who wish to do
further investigation. Or as mentioned before, copy the abstract below your
critical analysis of the research. I consider you all professionals; everyone
can bring something to the course of particular and unique value. I think you
will enjoy learning more from each other in the context of the material. So
feel free to comment on or question anything that is posted by your fellow
learners.
Since I may be printing out your posts to read off line, please do
not use attachments, actually post your responses. It is OK to use
attachments to post ancillary information.
The above details are not suggestions; they are requirements for
appropriate contributions to the Discussion Forum and optimal grading.
BE ADVISED: Each of the weekly discussions is worth 3% of your final grade. Therefore, it
is important to respond each and every
week. You do not have to respond to
every question or case study; however, you do need to make a valuable
contribution each week.
Each week you will receive a score of either zero or 5-10 (which equates to
50%-100%) Below is the grid I will use to help you understand the
grading system. You will be able to view your grade in the "Student
Tools" section.
0 – no response for the week
5 – one or two very limited responses that do not add value to the discussion
6 – two or more short responses (less than 100 words) that add some
information to the discussion.
7 – one thoughtful, concise response (at least 100 words of original
commentary) that adds substantial information to the discussion
8 – two or more thoughtful, concise responses (at least 100 words each of
original commentary) that add substantial information to the discussion
9 – Two or more thoughtful concise responses that contribute significantly to
that week’s discussion. Posts which discuss the techniques you would
use to counsel the particular subject in the case study and/or show critical
thinking about the case study are considered significant.
10 – Several, well considered responses; which might include bringing up an
important consideration relative to the CASE STUDY we are
discussing, answering another student’s questions, a concise summary of
pertinent research relative to the topic, or sharing of pertinent
client/patient experiences relative to the topic.
NOTE TO HIGH ACHIEVERS: If
there are a large number of students in this class (more than 15) and based
on the open discussion format that I use, I must ask you to limit your responses
each week to a maximum of FIVE (not including short posts
asking/answering a question, etc).
Additional discussions on the topic we are discussing that are interesting
but not necessarily highly relevant can take place in the WATER COOLER. For example, on the
case study on atherosclerosis, information on drug coated stents
would not be relevant enough for the discussion and best placed in the Water
Cooler.
Research Paper
A research paper will make up an additional 25% of your final grade. You will be asked to pull up citations and
abstracts on a particular topic, summarize your findings and give an opinion
of the research. More information on the particulars of this assignment can
be found in the Assignments area of the
course.
Final Case Study
A final case study will complete the last 25% of your final grade. You will be given a case study and asked for
information such as: the etiology of the disease state, detailed eating plans
for the client and nutritional/ supplement and lifestyle recommendations.
MAKE SURE YOU READ ASSIGNMENTS AND HOUSEKEEPING DETAILS IN THE ASSIGNMENTS CONTENT AREA OF THE COURSE!
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