FBMACL: Advanced Clinical Dietetics

Module code: FBMACL

Module provider: Food and Nutritional Sciences; School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy

Credits: 20

Level: 7

When you’ll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Mrs Dorothy Balhatchet, email: d.h.balhatchet@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2026/7

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: No

Last updated: 13 April 2026

Overview

Module aims and purpose

In this module, you will consolidate your understanding of the impact of clinical conditions on nutritional status. You will explore the principles, strengths and limitations of nutritional assessment, nutritional diagnosis, nutritional interventions, patient/client monitoring and outcome evaluation in a range of clinical conditions requiring dietetic management in the acute care setting.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Use critical reasoning to assess the information gathered quantitatively and qualitatively.
2. Assess a situation, determine the nature and severity of the problem and call upon the required knowledge and experience to deal with the problem, towards initiating a solution.
3. Assign priorities to the information collected to set appropriate dietetic outcomes and goals.
4. Develop and formulate appropriate and practical dietary advice for individuals and populations.

Module content

Topics covered include:

• Nutrition and Dietetic care process, critical care, care planning. 
• The rationale for modification of dietary components. 
• Evidence-based dietary management of various diseases including: mental health, cardiovascular diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, cancers, neurological disorders, learning disabilities, renal and liver disease, blood borne infections, adverse reactions to food, and metabolic conditions. 
• Assessment of food and nutrient intake and estimation of requirements.
• Food fortification/ modification and practical application of dietetic products. 
• Artificial nutrition and nutrient exchange systems.
• Legal and ethical aspects of dietetic practice, inter-professional practice, psychological and behaviour change aspects of dietetic practice.
• Clinical pharmacology, drug-nutrient interactions. Legal aspects of medicine management.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching will be delivered by lectures, seminars, workshops, online resources and directed reading. Online resources include screencasts that will be available via Blackboard to provide core content and support the teaching of specific topics within the module. Workshops will based on clinical simulation scenarios and will aim to assist students in meeting the learning outcomes of the module through experiential learning.

Study hours

At least 55 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students are required to obtain a pass mark (50%) overall in the module, with no mark below 45% in any submodular component, in order to meet the accrediting body standard requirements (British Dietetics Association- BDA).

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each calendar day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three calendar days;
• where the piece of work is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in you Individual Learning Plan), the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three calendar days of the deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

Where a piece of work is submitted late after a deadline which has been revised owing to an extension granted through the Assessment Adjustments policy and process (self-certified or otherwise), it will be subject to the maximum penalty (i.e., considered to be more than three calendar days late). This will also apply when such an extension is used in conjunction with a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: /cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Reassessment

Additional costs