Doctor of Clinical Nutrition University of Western States

The Doctor of Clinical Nutrition program is clinically-focused and online, with emphasis on treating conditions and risk factors using dietary and nutritional interventions. Communities are struggling with an increasing burden of chronic, complex illnesses – many of which are perpetuated by suboptimal nutrition. To address the most challenging patient cases, we need expert practitioners, doctors of clinical nutrition, who can apply advanced evaluation and treatment strategies to find the underlying drivers of illness and help to resolve them. For this reason, our Doctor of Clinical Nutrition program utilizes a functional medicine model, enabling students to integrate the best available scientific evidence with a comprehensive, whole-person care approach. With this knowledge, doctors of clinical nutrition can also develop targeted, individualized prevention plans to help reduce the risk of chronic illness and support optimal physical, mental and emotional well-being for the patients and clients they serve.

Program Highlights:

• Regionally-accredited program offered in collaboration with the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM).
• Rigorous, clinically-applicable curriculum that is continually reviewed and updated with new research and findings.
• Patient-centered approach to helping people achieve and maintain optimal wellness.
• 100-percent online format.
• Interactive online learning experience featuring distinguished instructors and dedicated course facilitators to help you succeed.
• Eligible for financial aid.

The doctor of clinical nutrition (DCN) program is a cohort program where students move through the two-year sequence with a group of peers and take a required set of courses for each of the eight quarters in the program.

The doctor of clinical nutrition program includes 65 quarter credits over a two-year course sequence. Each quarter includes 7-11 credits and the courses are offered once a year for each cohort entering the program.

Requirements for Graduation

The doctor of clinical nutrition degree is conferred upon the individual who has fulfilled the following requirements:

• Maintenance of enrollment eligibility through satisfactory academic performance, professional development and behavior, and non-academic behavior.
• Successful completion of all required courses, lectures, labs, practicums, and seminars with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on all required coursework.
• Successful completion of minimum graduation requirements as officially communicated to students through the university catalog, student publications, and other official documents of the university.
• Freedom from all indebtedness and other obligations to the university.

Recognizing the need for clinical nutrition practitioners with advanced training to assess and manage patients/clients experiencing complex chronic illness and to promote wellness through optimal body function, the doctor of clinical nutrition program prepares graduates to skillfully address the multifaceted health needs of the individuals they serve. Graduates of the DCN program will be able to:

1. Apply appropriate patient/client evaluation methods to determine nutritional needs and clinical status.
2. Create nutrition-focused care plans that incorporate scientific evidence and sound clinical judgment to promote therapeutic goals and wellness.
3. Apply functional medicine tools and strategies that enable a whole-person approach to patient/client care.
4. Model ethical methods of practice that accord with applicable principles of jurisprudence.
5. Employ a collaborative approach to clinical nutrition care.

Graduates of the UWS DCN program may seek careers as a nutritionist, solo practitioner, health and wellness coach, educator, lecturer, author or within an integrated practice.