5-Day Program Outline

The 5-day University of Virginia Nutrition Support Traineeship is a unique opportunity to achieve a higher level of practice in adult nutrition support.  The one-week clinical experience is designed to provide state-of-the-art, evidence-based information, in a practical, hands-on setting. The focus of the program is on the adult patient who requires enteral and/or parenteral nutrition support in the acute care setting, but includes planning for the transition home on nutrition support.

Participants are on-site for five days, and the traineeship is limited to 4-5 people at a time in order to allow individual attention.  All trainees receive a comprehensive UVA Adult Nutrition Support Traineeship manual (see the Nutrition Support Manual page).

Experiences include time spent discussing nutrition support consults, participating in nutrition team rounds, lectures from an interdisciplinary group of healthcare professionals, case studies, small group discussions, participation in Journal Club, and ample time to answer questions. Trainees may choose to attend lectures of interest that occur within the Health System during their traineeship week, have additional discussions about specific topics (hepatic, renal, critical care, GI, electrolytes, etc), brainstorming sessions about specific “clinical conundrums”, or discuss specific challenges encountered at outside facilities.  A research article is critically evaluated and reviewed during our monthly journal club.  Methods for critically evaluating research are discussed, as well as “tricks of the trade” for literature review, and staying up to date.  In addition, we will discuss how current research could be translated into practice at the participant’s home facility.  Experiences with nursing, physicians, and other disciplines are all part of the traineeship experience.

If you have questions as to whether a certain topic (or topics) will/can be covered during the traineeship, please contact us prior to registering.  We will be happy to answer any questions that you have.

Note:  The traineeship is not a Nutrition Focused Physical Assessment training.  This topic is not covered during the traineeship.  In addition, the traineeship does not train RDs to place feeding tubes.

Admission Criteria

The Traineeship is for clinical practitioners who work in nutrition support, and are interested in expanding their practice horizons and expertise.  There are no absolute entry criteria except enthusiasm for nutrition support, and a thirst for knowledge, but practitioners should have 1-2 years of clinical experience that includes working with nutrition support patients to get maximum benefit from the experience.  International clinicians are welcome in the program.

Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Information

Registered Dietitians can earn 28 hours of Continuing Professional Education (CPEU) for the live portion of this program.  Note:  CDR does not require live educational programs to be prior approved. Please check to see if your country, state, or locality has additional requirements regarding prior approval of programs.  Refer to your PDP manual for more information or contact us with any questions.

CPE Level:  2
Suggested LNCs:  5000, 5010, 5090, 5220, 5440

The Traineeship Manual provided with the program provides 10 hours of self-study CPE for RDs

CPE Level:  3
Suggested LNCs:  5000, 5010, 5090, 5440

Total Hours for RDs:  38

Clinicians other than Registered Dietitians are welcome in the program, however, continuing education credits are not available.