Celebrating the First Masters of Nutrition and Dietetics Graduating Class
The Master of Nutrition and Dietetics combines clinical practice and academic research to foster graduates who can impact provincial policy and patient care.
In a post-pandemic world, the demand for all healthcare workers is far outpacing B.C.’s supply. Registered Dietitians (RD) have a specific shortage in the province, and UBC’s Bachelor of Science in Food, Nutrition and Health, Dietetics major, used to be the only program that supported this health stream.
“During COVID-19, dietitians were redeployed to support various critical roles beyond their usual responsibilities, including screening for COVID-19 and played a critical role in the ICU, especially supporting those who were intubated and required tube feedings,” says Dr. Tamara Cohen, founder of UBC’s Master of Nutrition and Dietetics program, a new training stream that helps meet the demand for dietitians.
“But someone still had to manage hospital meal plans, monitor feeding tubes as part of standard care, and everything else they normally do. The pandemic exposed how badly we need more dietitians.”
The Master of Nutrition and Dietetics (MND) is a graduate level professional health program. Through the program, students spend 10 months in a practicum and a full year on a capstone research project. The students cover a wide breadth of research, from food security in homeless populations to helping improve food skills in caregivers of children with chronic kidney disease.
“The goal is to take one question from clinical practice, learn how to answer it through the research process, then disseminate that information to clinicians who can make use of it,” Cohen says. “All the projects are about elevating dietetics in practice, and positioning UBC and B.C. as leaders in the field.”
“All the projects are about elevating dietetics in practice, and positioning UBC and B.C. as leaders in the field.”
– Dr. Tamara Cohen
Cohen works closely with practicing dietitians and community partners. The capstone project program is an avenue to address questions from the field, where there are insufficient time or resources to find answers.
The MND program is intense, with only three weeks off for the entire 28-month duration. Admissions prioritized students with endurance, energy, and academic excellence. Through such a rigorous experience, Cohen also emphasized cohort cohesiveness throughout recruitment, selecting complementary personality types and diverse backgrounds.
“We have students with biology degrees, MBAs, and hands-on experience in emergency services,” Cohen says, praising the holistic and progressive approach the diversity brings to the MND. “The one throughline for every student was a true passion for nutrition and food.”
As the current cohort graduates this spring, Cohen is most proud of their research. The students’ findings have the potential to impact provincial programming, improving patient care and community health province-wide.
One group’s capstone project has been published in the Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. Their research challenged current clinical practice around nutrition in the ICU, and has led to improvements in treatment in the Fraser Health Authority.
Jennifer Ying is a graduate of the first cohort. Ying’s background is in business administration, which she practiced in retail operations across the U.S., China, and Malaysia.
” I saw how food can help us take charge of our wellbeing.”
– Jennifer Ying, MND graduate
“My love of food has been with me for as long as I can remember,” Ying says. “But my interest in nutrition began when I saw a dietitian for my own health as a young adult. I saw how food can help us take charge of our wellbeing.”
For the next 10 years, Ying circled the idea of returning to school to study nutrition. Eventually, she quit her job in Kuala Lumpur, booked a one-way flight to Vancouver, and worked alongside a private clinic of dietitians. She joined Langara College to complete the prerequisites for the undergraduate program.
“As luck would have it, the year I finished my prerequisites was the same year the masters program launched,” Ying says. “When I got my acceptance letter, I cried—a lot. I was beyond grateful and still am to this day.”
One of Ying’s highlights was a course on Indigenous Health in Dietetics, taught by Dr. Tabitha Robin. The course challenged Ying to reflect on her own biases, and reinforced that being a dietitian was more than just nutrition; it was also about advocacy and honouring the lived experiences and knowledge systems of the communities they serve.
Ying currently works with Fraser Health in acute care settings, with a recent addition of outpatient diabetes care, which has inspired her to become a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE). Her research mentors in BC Children’s Hospital have also sparked an interest in nutrition in reproductive health, which may one day lead towards serving families and family planning.
This summer, Ying will be working in a mental health program that focuses on gardening and kitchen skills. She is excited to develop her green thumb and get to know the community she serves.
More Research in Food, Nutrition and Health
Insect-Inspired Udon Noodles
Three students in the Food, Nutrition and Health program designed a new product that would hit all three marks, plus one more—they wanted a new product that would also speak to their Asian heritage.
Baby’s first bites: How to introduce food allergens to infants
May is Food Allergy Awareness Month in Canada. PhD candidate Brock Williams, a registered dietitian, talks about safely introducing potential allergens to an infant for the first time.
Improving Clinical Practice in Pediatrics
For his post-doctoral research, Brock Williams will be joining the Division of Allergy at BC Children’s Hospital, focusing on identifying the challenges and barriers that caregivers experience in introducing and regularly feeding infants commonly allergenic foods, such as peanuts and eggs.