Clinical Nutrition Track Competencies

General Research Skills

Articulate evidence of and for causality: develop hypotheses.
Use, interpret and explain statistical methods
Apply principles of ethics, obtain approval from review boards, practice laboratory safety
Use information systems to conduct efficient searches of scientific literature
Critically analyze relevant scientific literature

Describe the physiological and biochemical basis for nutrient requirements
Specify the chemical structure, biochemical and metabolic functions of essential and nonessential nutrients
Identify motifs of absorption and transport of nutrients
Describe the integration, coordination, and regulation of macro-and micronutrient metabolism
Describe the regulation of nutrient metabolism and nutritional needs by hormones and growth factors
Identify the cellular basis of chronic diseases and degeneration
Describe dietary bioactive components (functional foods); nontraditional roles of nutrients; prebiotics and probiotics

Identify food sources of nutrients and factors affecting nutrient bioavailability
Compare and contrasts the effects of food processing and handling on nutrient content and bioavailability
Identify factors related to nutritional toxicology including upper limits of intake; nutrient-nutrient and drug-nutrient interactions
Plan and assess the adequacy of diets, including under- and over-nutrition
Analyze the cultural and social factors affecting food intake and choices
Define methods of diet evaluation such as myplate.gov, as well as methods of in depth nutrient analysis
Identify the role of nutrient supplements including risk/benefit ratios; life stage issues; component bioavailability

Utilize ABCD: anthropometry, biochemistry, clinical, dietary parameters of nutrition assessment across the age spectrum
Identify the specificity and sensitivity of common tests; receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves
Compare functional assessments including immunological, cognitive, and pregnancy outcomes
Describe molecular markers of nutrient intake including gene arrays and analytical chips
Comprehend the basics of nutritional epidemiology

Identify and explain biochemical and physiological principles of nutrients as they pertain to clinical nutrition
Articulate the impact of disease and genetics on nutrient function and requirements
Explain the interactions of etiologies of chronic diseases with nutrition and exercise
Describe the genetic basis of inherited metabolic diseases
Design individualized meal plans for the treatment and management of disease (Medical Nutrition Therapy)

Describe critical aspects of situation assessments including screening, prevalence, at-risk groups, hunger, malnutrition, over-nutrition
Define community determinants of intake: economic, supply/demand, medical, cultural, care-giving, intra-household and community food distribution
Describe methods of nutrition surveillance and monitoring
Develop and evaluate programs with quantitative and qualitative methods
Define nutrition education and behavior change theories and approaches
Compare and contrast the benefits and risks of fortification and supplementation
Comprehend the programs of government, nongovernmental, and private sector organizations that impact nutrition status

Define principles and techniques for determining biologically and nutritionally important macromolecules and small molecules, including detection limits and analytical specificity and sensitivity