Nutrition and Dietetics BSc (Hons)

In this blog, I am going to introduce the course I am studying:) Hopefully, it is useful for prospective students that are interested in this course. Please do comment below if you would like to know any further info!

How do you get into this course?

Following the UCAS application, short-listed candidates are invited for interviews. The interview is in MMI or multiple mini-interview format consists of a series of short interview stations that are independent of one another. And you may receive conditional or unconditional offers depending on the interview performance. More details concerning entry requirements could be found here: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/undergraduate/nutrition-and-dietetics#entry

What to expect from this course?

This is a science subject. You will learn general science topics such as biochemistry, microbiology and pathology with the other students studying science during your first year. So, I would say the first year is a foundation year, building up all your concepts and basic understanding we will cover in the following year.

You will have a 4-week placement during your first summer in uni. So just some shadowing work and having a glance and taste of what a dietitian does. Unfortunately, mine got cancelled due to covid, so I don’t really know how’s it like. But people generally find it helpful as they can identify themselves whether they are suitable to continue their course or drop out. Working in a hospital setting can be quite stressful for some people.

Then moving on to year 2, you will narrow down your study to a little bit more about food and move on to the nutrition part, we will study food sciences, going through different nutrients such as carbs, protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals. And, have training on calculating nutritional requirements for individuals, doing assessments, running a consultation, understanding different medical conditions and how they impact an individual’s food intake etc. And this makes up the dietetics part.

And then you will have 1 year out of uni, going out to NHS hospitals, and completing 2 12-weeks placements. And this is what I am doing currently, shadowing dietitians, working out some bits from the consultation, and at the end of the whole placement, you could be working totally independent. This is also the year where you put your knowledge and theory learnt from school into practice.

After you have successfully passed the 2 placements, you will then back to school for your final year. This will be going deep into some area you are interested in and specialising further. You will be also completing a project, bringing all the skills you have developed over the past year as a wrap-up.

What is your possible career path?

This course is accredited by the British Dietetic Association and approved by the Health and Care Professions Council. Upon graduation, you will become a registered dietitian. Other possible career paths include working in the food industry, for major food and supermarket companies, etc.