Preamble

The clinical Nutrition internship is an integral part of the Clinical Nutrition program of the Health and Nutrition Organization (HNO) with its sister concern HNO Skill Development Centre (HSDC) and is designed to provide students with an opportunity to integrate and apply previously acquired knowledge and technical skills in actual clinical settings.

This internship booklet is prepared with the intention to provide orientation to interns about various tasks to be performed and/or observed in different disciplines during a 2-month internship at the HSDC. This is designed to give students a thorough grasp of how nutrition plays a role in managing, preventing, and treating numerous health issues. The program will cover subjects like macronutrients and micronutrients, the balance of energy, diet assessment, nutrition and digestion, metabolic processes, and nutrient absorption, along with a prior two-week course designed to give students a practical understanding of how to prepare a diet chart.

The internship program has been divided into two parts for convenience. For students who lack knowledge of the basic procedures in diet planning and diet /meal chart preparation, part one of the internship allows them to become experts in diet plans before moving on to part two where they will learn about the utilization of medical nutrition treatment in managing different chronic diseases, including cancer, diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular and other diseases as well as clinical nutrition in broader aspects. 

The ultimate goal is that interns may acquire the necessary practical skills in performing various clinical nutrition tasks in different disciplines and hospital sections which in turn will help to improve healthcare services.

PART 1

Remember that you should have a basic understanding of diet planning before learning a disease-based diet plan.

If you are not confident enough to go through a basic diet plan and ensure us that you can make a diet chart properly, then this section is for you, where you will learn about:

1.    Nutrition and Nutrient

2.    Nutritional assessment

3.    Calculations for diet planning

4.    Bangladeshi Food Composition table

5.    Will learn to make a diet plan and steps to follow for an individual’s diet

Eligibility criteria: Entry into any part of the internship program is allowed only after the successful completion of 3rd year of Bachelor's programs in Nutrition, Food and Nutrition and allied health sciences.

Duration: 2 Weeks: 8 Classes│4 Case study

Evaluation Process: Complete a diet chart successfully

Note: If you happen to pass the pre-assessment exam before beginning the internship after showing your interest, you are exempt from doing this part of the program; however, if you are not, then every student who is interested in the internship must take this course to move on to the program's second phase to make it easier for themselves. 

During registration, if you choose Part 2 and do not Pass the Preliminary Assessment You will not be allowed to continue until you fulfill the requirements. 

PART 2

The internship is an integral part of the clinical nutrition program. Under the guidance of experienced clinical nutrition professionals, dieticians and other qualified personnel and health professionals, interns learn more about the nutrition care process, diet management, food hygiene and safety and evaluation of dietary orders. Interns will also be trained in developing dietary plan for patients with specific diseases, calculation of dietary requirements for patients and will be able to make nutritional diagnoses. They also gain an understanding of the roles and functions of clinical nutritionists. The internship provides applied learning experiences during which the intern should:

1.    Understand the foundational concepts of clinical nutrition, such as energy balance, diet evaluation, macronutrients and micronutrients, and nutrition and metabolic process.

2.    Learn about the role nutrition plays in various chronic conditions, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

3.    Gain knowledge of Medical Nutrition Therapy and how it is used to manage chronic medical conditions.

4.    Learn about the various instruments and methods used to determine nutritional deficiencies and evaluate nutritional status.

5.    Understand the connection between nutrition and gut health.

6.    Get an understanding of how nutrition affects the immune system.

7.    Learn the enteral and parenteral nutrition principles and how they are used in nutrition support.

8.    Learn about the moral and legal considerations that apply to clinical nutrition.

9.    Understand the responsibilities, roles, and functions of clinical nutritionists.

The internship program will be conducted with the collaboration of affiliated hospitals or primary healthcare facilities, where interns learn by participating in the workload of a supervising nutritionist/ specialist/consultant. The emphasis in each internship discipline is given on:

1.    Organization of work;

2.    use of standard dietary methods;

3.    correlation of physical and laboratory parameters for patient’s nutritional requirements; and

4.    the establishment and use of programs for quality control and preventive maintenance for food services and its safety.

A.      Internship eligibility criteria:

Entry into the internship is allowed only after the successful completion of 3rd year of Bachelor's programs in Nutrition, Food and Nutrition, and allied sciences.

B.      Internship duration:

The training period for the internship is two months.

C.       Entry Requirements:

Before registering, students must take an assessment that verifies their eligibility for the internship program. The Internship program (Part-2) will not accept students who failed the assessment exam.

D.      Internship disciplines:

The internship program is spread over two months during which each intern takes training in various disciplines of clinical nutrition, e.g., nutrition care process, dietary planning, nutritional requirements, nutritional diagnosis, and intervention, as well as food hygiene and safety. The schedule of training is given in the forthcoming section. Each intern needs to complete an internship portfolio during the whole training period. In addition, they need to maintain a logbook for the nutrition care process for various patients for each rotation, and another logbook deals with food services once a year.

E.       Internship supervision and monitoring:

The supervision of interns is done at two levels; one by the hospital training coordinator and the other by the internship program coordinator of HSDC. During training, the intern is supervised 2 days a week basis by the supervisor. Clinical nutrition internship program has 5 modules including 10 case studies in total comprises of 32 training lectures and hospital attachment sessions during the internship period. Modules that will be trained at HSDC will be supervised by HNO's in-house Nutritionist. Interns must submit all case studies to assigned nutritionists. At the hospital, a hospital training coordinator will supervise as per her schedule using available facilities.

F.    Internship Training Modules:

1.    Basics of Clinical Nutrition and Analysis

2.    Understanding the Food Composition Table and Diet Planning

3.    Nutrition Education, Communication and counseling

4.    Medical Nutrition Therapy

1.    Adolescents Health

2.    Women’s health

3.    Pre-conception, Pregnancy & Lactation

4.    Pediatric Clinical Dietetics and Childhood Nutrition

5.    Respiratory Disease Management

6.    Gastrointestinal Disorders

7.    Renal and Kidney Disease

8.    Endocrine Disease

1.    Pulmonary Disorder and CVD

10. Cancer Prevention and management

11. Hospital Attachment

G.      Interns’ Evaluation:

Evaluation of interns by hospital and HSDC supervisors:

Professional behavior and technical performance are evaluated using an evaluation form designed to reflect interns’ competencies that are expected to achieve upon completion of their internship in clinical nutrition. Evaluation by hospital supervisors has 45% weightage. This evaluation is organized into three domains:

General clinical competencies i.e., affective behavior, attitude, initiative, and motivation while at classes;

Discipline competencies i.e., ability to demonstrate basic theoretical and practical, and technical ability in performing various clinical nutrition procedures; and

Assessment of activities that are in the normal course of regular routine and that interns would normally attend or participate in lectures, and their presentations.

All three domains are rated on percent competency. At the end of each rotation, the intern will be evaluated by his/her immediate supervisor using an evaluation form provided by the program internship coordinator.

The supervisor will submit the evaluation form for each intern to the program training coordinator in a sealed envelope. A summary of the internship evaluation will be prepared by the training coordinator and at the end of the internship period an exam of MCQ and/or True-False will be conducted and the cumulative evaluation report of each intern will be prepared by HSDC.

H.      Award of internship certificate:

The intern will be granted a certificate by the HSDC after all evaluations and achieves minimum of 60% marks in cumulative assessments.

I.        Assessment Methods:

1.     

1.    Quizzes and Exams

2.    Case studies and Problem-based learning assignments

3.    Group Presentation

4.    Written assignments

Note: Any intern who fails to achieve a minimum of 60%, can get a certificate after attending re-exams (Quiz of 50 marks and Viva of 50 marks) with the re-exam fees of 1000 Taka per participant.

Additionally, the student is responsible for the rescheduling fees if the organizer needs to alter the schedule due to the student's failure to communicate during the whole internship program.

**Processing Charges include:

1.    Registration Processing

2.    Preliminary Assessment Exam

3.    Preliminary Assessment Exam Evaluations

4.    Transaction Fees

5.    Manpower Involvement, etc.

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NEXT BATCH WILL START FROM 

5 January 2024

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duration: 10 WEEKS

fees: 

Part 1 + Part 2: 11000 Taka, 

Part 2 Only: 8500 Taka

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HNO Lifetime Members will get a maximum of 40% discount

HNO Student Members will get a maximum of 20% discount

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Prev. Students of HSDC will get a maximum of 15% discount

A group of 5 Students will get a maximum of 15% discount

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