Clinical Nutrition

Discipline

Clinical Nutritionists approach disease prevention and management through a multidimensional lens. Nutrient adequacy, food quality, dietary behaviours and lifestyle are assessed so that individualised Nutrition Care Plans can be developed.

Scientific evidence, ethics and sound clinical reasoning guide practice to ensure that diet and supplement recommendations are efficacious and safe. Clinical Nutritionists integrate traditional food wisdom and current scientific evidence to guide and support individuals and communities to eat well and live healthier lives.

Job Outlook

Employment prospects for complementary health professionals grew very strongly over the past 5 years and is expected to continue growing with 8,000 jobs predicted by 2023 (Federal Government Job Outlook, 2018)

Responsibilities

As a clinical Nutritionist some of your responsibilities may include:

• Consult with patients on an individual basis to assessment of their overall health and get a detailed case history from them

• Recommend and analyse laboratory tests, which give indications of illness, nutritional imbalances, functioning of organs such as the liver and the digestive system

• Explain the physiological impact of complex biochemical imbalances and nutritional deficiencies to educate your patient

• Develop a personalised nutrition and lifestyle plan, which will include dietary recommendations, environmental medicine, counselling and nutritional supplements

• Conduct follow-up consults to monitor and evaluate patient progress and answer any questions they may have

• Refer clients to other health practitioners such as a GP, acupuncturist etc., as appropriate

• Keep comprehensive notes and records for each patient

• Provide advice and promote nutritional therapy to community groups and charities

• Carry out administrative tasks and business promotion.

Working Hours and Consult Fees

Your income will depend on factors such as the price you charge per hour, the number of hours you work and the number of patients you attract as well as your running costs and overheads.

In Australia the average Nutritionist:

• Works 3.5 days per week

• Charges $93.95 per hour

• Consults 14 patients per week

Source: Steel et al., (2018). The Australian Complementary Medicine Workforce: A Profile of 1,306 Practitioners from the PRACI Study.

Skills

To become a successful Nutritionist, you’ll need:

• The ability to communicate with a range of patients and build rapport

• Passion and enthusiasm for healthy eating

• The ability to encourage and motivate others

• Active listening skills and the ability to empathise without becoming emotionally involved

• A confident and professional approach to work

• Time management skills

• Problem-solving and analytical skills

• Report-writing skills

• Self-motivation and the ability to work on your own and develop new skills

• Competent marketing, financial and organisational skills, in order to set up and run a successful business

Career Opportunities

As a qualified Clinical Nutritionist you’ll be able to work in a diverse range of careers and roles in the health industry. New jobs are being created every day in clinical nutrition as the industry continues to grow and the general population becomes increasingly aware of the importance of nutrition for overall wellbeing. With Endeavour College of Natural Health’s degree you’ll be qualified to provide both specific and general advice to clients in a range of practitioner and non-practitioner settings.

Graduates from Endeavour's Bachelor of Health Science (Nutrition and Dietetic Medicine) are entitled to practice as clinical nutritionists and can exclusively showcase Endeavour's trademarked Clinical Nutritionist logo as part of their branded marketing materials.

Graduates are entitled to practice as clinical nutritionists and can exclusively showcase Endeavour's trademarked Clinical Nutritionist logo as part of their branded marketing materials.

Clinical Practitioner

Independent – in private practice

Online – using digital technology to provide consultations to clients around the country

Multimodality – work in a clinic alongside other natural health clinicians

Mobile – hosting client consults in their place of work or at home

Clinical Practitioner niches

Niches include weight loss, women’s health, autism spectrum disorder, bariatric nutrition, chronic disease, reproductive health, diabetes, children’s behavioural issues, mental health, allergies, heart health, preventative and repair, and nutrition for teenagers.

You can also go down the elite sport professional path to advise on diet to optimise their performance, recovery from injury and achieve optimum body size and build for their sport.

Content Creator

Using your flair for visual and written communication you can create nutrition specific content to be used by yourself or companies employing you for:

• Social media

• Websites

• Newsletters

• Blogs

• Magazines

• eBooks

• Podcasts

• Industry publications

• Product reviews

• Recipes and cookbooks

• Menu creation and analysis

• Marketing collateral

Researcher

Contribute to the body of knowledge on nutrition by becoming a nutrition researcher. The first step to pursuing a career in research is completing further education with Endeavour College of Natural Health’s Honours program.

• Review literature

• Write reports

• Market research

• Product / dietary surveys

• Food research

• Conduct clinical trials

Within natural health companies

Using a nutrition qualification graduates can work in companies like Metagenics and BioCeuticals in areas such as:

• Product development

• Product training and education

• Marketing, Public Relations and Sales

• Customer support

Nutrition Clinic Owner, Director, Manager, Coordinator or Assistant

Work at any level of clinic management.

Nutrition support services

• Medical Nutritionist – assist a general practitioner with nutritional and weight loss programs

• Technical support – provide advice on nutrition products, their application and safety

• Nutrition consultant – provide nutrition advice for:

  • The development of health related services and programs

  • Create and analyse menus e.g. nursing homes, schools, sports teams

  • Regulatory affairs and quality control

  • Advocate change, lead on and write policy

Practitioner Educator

Teach and nurture the next generation of Clinical Nutritionists by:

• Lecturing

• Clinic supervision

• Webinar or online lecturer and workshop presentation

Nutrition Presenter

Using public speaking skills coupled with a Clinical Nutrition qualification you can present and speak at events such as conferences and webinars on nutrition topics.

Provide specialist advice on healthy eating to particular community groups, such as maternal, infant or elderly, and work in specific areas like bone health and salt or sugar reduction.

Nutrition Skills Educator or Facilitator

Work with different groups of people, whether with individuals, families, corporates, or communities to educate them about nutrition, food preparation, grocery shopping and more. You can also hold a variety of experiences including:

• Cooking classes

• Guided grocery store visits

• Workshops and masterclasses on specific nutrition skills and topics