The Doctor of Clinical Nutrition requires 48 credit hours for completion and includes an applied research project focused on nutrition and dietetics or within the applicant’s workplace. All degree requirements must be completed within a maximum of 5 years. A cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 must be maintained for all UTMB's graduate course work.
Degree Plan
Total Degree Plan Credits: 48 Credits
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Nutrition Core Courses
| NUTR 6300 | Advanced & Applied Regulation of Human Metabolism | 3 |
| NUTR 6301 | Advanced Concepts in Clinical Nutrition | 3 |
| NUTR 6302 | Current Topics in Nutrition Science | 3 |
| NUTR 6303 | Advanced & Applied Behavior Counseling and Theories | 3 |
| NUTR 6305 | Advanced Quality and Informatics I | 3 |
| NUTR 6306 | Advanced Quality and Informatics II | 3 |
| NUTR 6307 | Nutrition & Chronic Disease | 3 |
| NUTR 6110 | Ethics in Clinical Practice | 1 |
| Total: 22 Credit Hours |
Research Core Courses
| NUTR 6217 | Applied Evidence Based Practice | 2 |
| NUTR 6308 | Research Methods & Application | 3 |
| NUTR 6309 | Advanced Statistics | 3 |
| Total: 8 Credit Hours |
Elective Courses
6 credit hour minimum
| NUTR 6310 | Dietetics Leadership in the Health Care System | 3 |
| NUTR 6311 | Dietetics For Public Health | 3 |
| NUTR 6312 | Health Promotion Program Planning | 3 |
| NUTR 5303 | Health Care Policy for Clinicians | 3 |
| NUTR 5320 | Developing Educational Materials | 3 |
| NUTR 5323 | Technology Clinical Simulation | 3 |
| Total: 18 Credit Hours |
Doctoral Project Courses
| NUTR 6313 | Pre-Doctoral Project | 3 |
| NUTR 6314 | Doctoral Project I | 3 |
| NUTR 6315 | Doctoral Project II | 3 |
| NUTR 6316 | Doctoral Research Seminar | 3 |
| Total: 12 Credit Hours |
Doctoral Research Project
The Scholarly Doctoral Project (sometimes referred to as a doctoral research project), is the culminating work in the DCN program. Students synthesize the knowledge and skills gained in courses to identify a nutritional, clinical practice problem or need and develop an evidence-based approach to address this issue. The project must be relevant, practice based, and address the need(s) of a vulnerable population or work environment. The result should demonstrate a change or improvement in practice or work environment.
Students will complete a planned and approved research project that is guided by an advisor, student-directed, and designed to enhance the ability to apply graduate knowledge to achieve tangible and relevant professional outcomes.
All aspects of a translational research project will be included (i.e., planning, data collection, analysis and interpretation of results, preparation, and oral presentation of the project). The goal is to write a manuscript suitable for publication.
Collaborative interprofessional patient care projects are also strongly encouraged.
Students actively working on their research project must maintain active enrollment each semester while in the research phase by enrolling in suitable courses (NUTR 6313-6316).