Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Nutrition & Dietetics Culminating Project

Course Description

The purpose of this course is to provide students with an opportunity to reflect upon and demonstrate their learning in the MPH program, explore nutrition issues of interest and real-world need and propose evidence-based and action-oriented recommendations for action.

Students will undertake a project with an external agency (as an individual or in a group) related to an emerging or unmet need identified by the agency. Students will apply project management skills using a systems-approach and will reflect on the role of dietitians within the broader food system. Students will exemplify practice competencies across the groupings outlined in the Integrated Competencies for Dietetic Education and Practice (ICDEPs).Taking action on issues addressing the health of our dietetic clients can involve research, establishing and implementing best practices, operating at the individual, group or societal level. As practitioners, we are called upon to develop and promote strategies that enhance personal and societal responsibility for health, carried out in and between all communities, however defined, and involve interprofessional collaboration.

Course Objectives

In this course students will:

1. Develop and enhance program and operational planning skills.
2. Demonstrate stakeholder engagement and interdisciplinary collaboration skills.
3. Explore a practical experience from a consultant perspective.
4. Apply a clinical public health perspective to
5. Conduct a situational analysis of a community food program and develop recommendations for improvement with stakeholders.
6. Develop professional relationships through involvement in organizing course workshops.

Methods of Assessment

Reflection Journal	5%
Project Brief	5%
Operational Planning & Progress Reporting	30%
Final Report and Recommendations	40%
Agency Presentation	20%