Nutritional Therapy

This comprehensive 3½ year practitioner training diploma, written up to UK level 6 (Irish level 7), provides practical and interactive lectures alongside structured home study and over 250 hours of clinical practice supervised by some of the most respected Nutritional Therapists from Ireland and the UK. Our syllabus is written to cover the UK Nutritional Therapy Council’s core curriculum for Nutritional Therapy and aims to uphold the UK’s National Occupational Standards for the industry. Students and graduates may register with the Nutritional Therapists of Ireland (NTOI), Ireland’s only independent registering body for Nutritional Therapists, and the Complementary Medical Association (CMA) & Federation of Nutritional Therapy Practitioners (FNTP) in both the UK and Ireland.

The IHS Diploma in Nutritional Therapy is based on the principles and practice of functional medicine, an evidence based, patient centred approach to healthcare that focuses on identifying and preventing the underlying causes of chronic disease. This allows graduates of our programme to understand, utilise and educate others on the most up to date and relevant research in healthcare. The course includes study of medical sciences (anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology), applied nutritional science, functional medicine, research methods and practitioner development, all of which are taught from basic to advanced level over the course of the programme.

The practical skills developed throughout the course include dietary analysis, body composition analysis and health coaching. Our dietary analysis training uses the very latest and most comprehensive dietary analysis software available, body composition analysis and in depth training covering key body measurements and their links to health and disease. Our health coaching skills are based on the dynamic and fast growing field of health and wellness coaching from the US. Students are trained in the most effective ways of improving patient compliance, ensuring clients take responsibility for their own health, establishing how ready they are to change and then helping them overcome barriers to change. This ensures IHS graduates have the comprehensive knowledge base, practical skills and confidence required for working with individual clients as a Nutritional Therapist. The programme content is chosen and structured to enable participants to become professional, reflective practitioners with a practical and integrated approach to the nutritional management of ill-health.

The weekends do not solely consist of students sitting in front of a lecturer, taking notes – the days are split between discussion, group work, lectures and informative multimedia presentations to enhance the learning experience. We have more than 12 highly qualified and experienced lecturers on our Nutritional Therapy Diploma, each an expert in their field, giving our students access to a wealth of knowledge and experience from their first day of study and students will be taught by at least four different lecturers per year to benefit from this.

For clinical practice, we develop key skills in a systematic and logical fashion from year 1 so that students are confident and competent before they see clients in our supervised student clinics in year 4. IHS clinical practice involves a variety of tried and tested teaching methods proven to be the best to develop practical communication and clinical practice skills. These include in-class exercises and role play, structured at-home exercises, reflective practice, video/paper based consultation analysis, live clinical observation and supervised client consultations. Each student will have completed 250 hours of clinical practice upon graduation which not only offers the quantity of hours required to register as a Nutritional Therapist but also the broad scope and quality of training to give IHS graduates confidence in their skills.

Regular optional cooking days allow students to see first hand how to incorporate healthy eating cooking skills and ingredients into meals for both them and their future clients.

The overall aim of the programme is to equip students with the knowledge, understanding and competencies required to provide comprehensive nutritional advice to individuals and groups in a range of healthcare settings. IHS develop confident, safe and effective practitioners of Nutritional Therapy who have a specific expertise and a specialised knowledge base, competent to work either individually or in collaboration with other healthcare professionals.

Students can begin practicing as a Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach from the end of year 1 onwards. This allows students to gain valuable experience in the industry whilst still working towards their Nutritional Therapy qualification.