Dietetics Major (B.Sc.(Nutr.Sc.)) (115 credits)
Offered by: Human Nutrition (Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences)
Degree: Bachelor of Science (Nutritional Sciences)
Program credit weight: 115
Program Description
The B.Sc.(Nutr.Sc.); Major in Dietetics is a 3.5 year competency-based program that focuses on food and nutrition, leadership, communication skills, management skills and critical thinking. The program includes 40 weeks of internship Professional Practice (Stage). The stage domains include: clinical nutrition care, public health nutrition and food provision management. The program is accredited by Accreditation Canada, and recognized by the Ordre des diététistes-nutritionnistes du Québec (ODNQ). Graduates of this accredited program are eligible to apply to become registered as a professional dietitian with the regulatory body of any province in Canada.
Degree Requirements — B.Sc.
This program is offered as part of a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree.
To graduate, students must satisfy both their program requirements and their degree requirements.
- The program requirements (i.e., the specific courses that make up this program) are listed under the Course Tab (above).
- The degree requirements—including the mandatory Foundation program, appropriate degree structure, and any additional components—are outlined on the Degree Requirements page.
Students are responsible for ensuring that this program fits within the overall structure of their degree and that all degree requirements are met. Consult the Degree Planning Guide on the SOUSA website for additional guidance.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Required Courses (112 credits)
Required courses and Professional Practice (Stage) courses are sequenced in a specific order over nine terms (3.5-year program). See https://www.mcgill.ca/nutrition/programs/undergraduate/dietetics for detailed information regarding the undergraduate program plan.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| AEMA 310 | Statistical Methods 1. | 3 |
Statistical Methods 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Measures of central tendency and dispersion; binomial and Poisson distributions; normal, chi-square, Student's t and Fisher-Snedecor F distributions; estimation and hypothesis testing; simple linear regression and correlation; analysis of variance for simple experimental designs. | ||
| ANSC 234 | Biochemistry 2. | 3 |
Biochemistry 2. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Metabolism in humans and domestic animals. The chemistry of alimentary digestion, absorption, transport, intermediary metabolism and excretion. | ||
| ANSC 323 | Mammalian Physiology. | 3 |
Mammalian Physiology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A study of the organization, functions and regulation of various organ systems in mammals. The nervous, endocrine, muscular, cardiovascular, respiratory, urinary, digestive and reproductive systems are discussed. | ||
| ANSC 424 | Metabolic Endocrinology. | 3 |
Metabolic Endocrinology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 A detailed study of the endocrine system and its role in the maintenance of homeostasis in higher vertebrates, including the endocrine regulation of energy balance. | ||
| IPEA 500 | Roles in Interprofessional Teams. | 0 |
Roles in Interprofessional Teams. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A half day workshop, including preparatory work, that introduces interprofessional education, interprofessional practice, and the roles of the different healthcare professionals that make up an interprofessional team. | ||
| IPEA 501 | Communication in Interprofessional Teams. | 0 |
Communication in Interprofessional Teams. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A half day workshop, including preparatory work, introducing effective communication and interactions in interprofessional teams. | ||
| IPEA 502 | Partnership in Interprofessional Teams | 0 |
Partnership in Interprofessional Teams Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A half day activity, including preparatory work, introducing students to a simulated patient/family centred care scenario in which they will be working in interprofessional teams to develop a plan of care. | ||
| IPEA 503 | Managing Interprofessional Conflict. | 0 |
Managing Interprofessional Conflict. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Reflection on sources of conflict and strategies to manage conflict. Using conflict productively for team building and innovative approaches for resolving conflict within the interprofessional health care team. | ||
| LSCI 211 | Biochemistry 1. | 3 |
Biochemistry 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Biochemistry of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids; enzymes and coenzymes. Introduction to intermediary metabolism. | ||
| LSCI 230 | Introductory Microbiology. | 3 |
Introductory Microbiology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The occurrence and importance of microorganisms in the biosphere. Principles governing growth, death and metabolic activities of microorganisms. An introduction to the microbiology of soil, water, plants, food, humans and animals. | ||
| NUTR 207 | Nutrition and Health. | 3 |
Nutrition and Health. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Provides students who have a basic biology/chemistry background with the fundamental information on how macronutrients, vitamins and minerals are metabolized in the body, followed by application to evaluate current issues of maximizing health and disease prevention at different stages of the lifecycle. | ||
| NUTR 208 | Professional Practice Stage 1A. | 2 |
Professional Practice Stage 1A. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to the dietetics profession including ethics; provincial regulation; competencies and domains of practice; and dietetic practice in the hospital environment. Introductory activities related to food, food industry, agriculture, public health nutrition and clinical nutrition. | ||
| NUTR 209 | Professional Practice Stage 1B. | 2 |
Professional Practice Stage 1B. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Introductory dietetic internship experience. Introduction to the hospital environment, client- centred care and the patient experience. Communication, dietary assessment, and nutrition education. | ||
| NUTR 214 | Food Fundamentals. | 4 |
Food Fundamentals. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Food composition and structure. Scientific principles underlying physical, chemical, and nutrient content changes during food preparation. The role of ingredients and nutrients, and their interaction in food preparation. Culture of food including historical context and sustainability. Sensory evaluation and food safety. | ||
| NUTR 217 | Application: Food Fundamentals. | 4 |
Application: Food Fundamentals. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Nutrition, chemical and physical properties of food and complex food mixtures. Role of culture, food policy and environmental sustainability on food choices, procurement and preparation. Knowledge of ingredients, preservation, storage, packaging of food. Culturally diverse foods and food habits. Controlling chemical changes during preparation of food to obtain palatable, nutritious and safe food. | ||
| NUTR 307 | Metabolism and Human Nutrition. | 3 |
Metabolism and Human Nutrition. Terms offered: Fall 2025 This course looks at the importance of nutrition from the molecular to the organismal levels in human health and disease. The focus will be on the significance of nutrients in regulating metabolism, and impact of genotype in the metabolism of nutrients. | ||
| NUTR 310 | Professional Practice Stage 2A. | 2 |
Professional Practice Stage 2A. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The nutrition care process, clinical reasoning and documentation for the medical record. Preparation for the application of knowledge in practice, for clinical nutrition and food service administration rotations, will be addressed. | ||
| NUTR 311 | Professional Practice Stage 2B. | 5 |
Professional Practice Stage 2B. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Two interrelated modules of directed experience in normal and clinical nutrition and food service management, in health care settings and the private sector. | ||
| NUTR 322 | Applied Sciences Communication. | 3 |
Applied Sciences Communication. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The principles and techniques of communicating applied sciences to individuals and groups in both the professional and public milieu. Effective public speaking and group interaction techniques. Communication materials selection, development, use, and evaluation. Writing for the media. Balancing risk and reason in communicating scientific findings. | ||
| NUTR 337 | Nutrition Through Life. | 3 |
Nutrition Through Life. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Nutrient utilization, requirements and recommended allowances as related to physiological development throughout the life cycle. Physiological, psychological and environmental determinants of eating behaviour. | ||
| NUTR 341 | Global Food Security. | 3 |
Global Food Security. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Food insecurity is one of the most critical issues humanity has faced in history. The magnitude of this phenomenon, reflected in its worldwide presence and in the number of individuals affected, makes it an imperative component of all nations' and of all internaltional agencies' agendas. Its complexity of determinants and its numerous consequences require the involvement of multipe disciplines and sectors. McGill undergraduate students as future professionals tackling global issues require an integrated and multidisciplinary training on food security. | ||
| NUTR 342 | Applied Human Resources. | 3 |
Applied Human Resources. Terms offered: Fall 2025 This course provides a solid foundation of HR essentials and a philosophy from which to navigate in the work place, familiarity with federal and provincial legislation and knowledge of current challenges and issues; a discussion on the employee life cycle from recruitment and selection to termination and everything that happens in between; a paradigm for leadership and creating a culture of engagement and effectiveness. | ||
| NUTR 343 | Financial Management and Accounting. | 3 |
Financial Management and Accounting. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Priniciples and concepts of financial management, accounting and cost control, analysis, utilization and communication of financial information. Cost value profit analysis, budgets and decision-making with applications in the food and nutrition sector. | ||
| NUTR 344 | Clinical Nutrition 1. | 4 |
Clinical Nutrition 1. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Clinical nutrition assessment and dietary modification of pathological conditions including hypertension, lipid disorders and cardiovascular disease, obesity, cancer, COPD, introduction to diabetes, dysphagia. | ||
| NUTR 345 | Food Service Systems Management. | 3 |
Food Service Systems Management. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Competency-based professional course for management of food service systems in healthcare organizations, food service industry, and groups. Principles of management theory and development of business plan in nutritionrelated activities. Emphasis on strategic planning; food policies; menu development; recipe standardization, nutrient analysis, costing; food purchasing; quality control; marketing; staffing; management styles; and ethical and professional behaviour. Students receive Canadian Food Safety Certification (Advanced.fst) upon completion of this course. | ||
| NUTR 346 | Applied Food Service Management. | 3 |
Applied Food Service Management. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Competency-based professional course focusing on human resources management, marketing, budgeting, HACCP principles, allergen management, recipe standardization, local and federal sanitation laws, and quality assurance in food settings and case studies. Students receive Allergen and WHMIS certification upon completion of this course. | ||
| NUTR 408 | Professional Practice Stage 3A. | 1 |
Professional Practice Stage 3A. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Competency-based educational topics linking theory to practice for field placements in the clinical setting. Topics include ethics, leadership and interprofessional teamwork. | ||
| NUTR 409 | Professional Practice Stage 3B. | 9 |
Professional Practice Stage 3B. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Four interrelated modules of directed experience in clinical nutrition, food service management, normal nutrition education and community nutrition, in health care settings and the private sector. | ||
| NUTR 438 | Interviewing and Counselling. | 3 |
Interviewing and Counselling. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Theories of behaviour change. Techniques and skills as applicable to the dietitian's role as communicator, interviewer, counsellor, educator, motivator and nutrition behaviour change specialist. | ||
| NUTR 450 | Research Methods: Human Nutrition. | 3 |
Research Methods: Human Nutrition. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to how diverse approaches to nutrition research including international, community, laboratory, clinical, molecular, meta-analyses are necessary to advance the field of nutrition. Emphasis on ethics, scientific method, research process and analysis of results. | ||
| NUTR 505 | Public Health Nutrition. | 3 |
Public Health Nutrition. Terms offered: Fall 2025 This course focuses on the nutrition status of populations, communities and groups of people using a public health lens. It identifies and assesses human nutrition issues and problems, their causes, influencing factors and social conditions using a social determinants of health framework. Offers opportunities to design and conduct needs assessments, design and plan programs and plan for their evaluation. The purpose and role of participatory approaches with diverse populations and Indigenous populations in particular will be analyzed. Health systems, public health and political influence in Canada, as related to nutrition will be addressed. | ||
| NUTR 508 | Professional Practice Stage 4A. | 7 |
Professional Practice Stage 4A. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Directed professional practice experience in domains of clinical nutrition, management, nutrition education and/or community nutrition. This course includes at least one main clinical nutrition rotation, and may include additional weeks in other domains of practice. | ||
| NUTR 509 | Professional Practice Stage 4B. | 7 |
Professional Practice Stage 4B. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Directed professional practice experience in domains of clinical nutrition, management, nutrition education and/or community nutrition. This course includes management and community rotations. | ||
| NUTR 511 | Nutrition and Behaviour. | 3 |
Nutrition and Behaviour. Terms offered: Fall 2025 This course will integrate biological, social and psychological determinants of eating and food choices in both health and disease. Topics will include behavioural theories relevant to eating and food choice, neurobiology of appetite regulation, mental health, obesity, chronic disease and effectiveness of behaviour-change intervention strategies. | ||
| NUTR 545 | Clinical Nutrition 2. | 4 |
Clinical Nutrition 2. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Pathophysiology and clinical nutrition intervention for various medical conditions. Topics include gastrointestinal disorders, surgery and nutrition support. | ||
| NUTR 546 | Clinical Nutrition 3. | 4 |
Clinical Nutrition 3. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Clinical nutrition for diabetes, renal disease, eating disorders and other disorders in both adult and pediatric populations. | ||
Elective Courses (3 credits)
3 credits, chosen in consultation with the academic adviser.
Compulsory Immunization
A compulsory immunization program exists at McGill which is required for Dietetics students. Students should complete their immunization upon commencing Year 1 of the Dietetics Major. Confirmation of immunization will be coordinated by the Student Wellness Hub (https://www.mcgill.ca/wellness-hub/ ). Certain deadlines apply.