Over the next eight years as many as 50 per cent of dietitians in Ontario plan to retire. Their positions may not be filled fast enough as there is an acute shortage of the required practical training positions available to new graduates – a step all dietetics students must complete before becoming registered dietitians.

To help address this shortage, Ryerson University and St. Michael’s Hospital have partnered to launch the Professional Master’s Diploma in Dietetics. The one-year program is the first graduate diploma program of its kind in Canada, offering graduates hands-on classroom instruction and 45 weeks of practicum placements within the hospital in a wide variety of dietetic practice settings.

Once the students have completed the program, they can write the registration exam to become registered dietitians.

“As the proportion of the population over age 65 grows, more dietitians will be needed to help Canadians stay healthy and manage chronic disease risk,” said Judy Paisley, associate professor in the School of Nutrition at Ryerson University. “Over time, the Professional Master’s Diploma in Dietetics program will enable more students to complete the post-graduation practical training that’s required to become a registered dietitian.”

The new program will provide excellent dietetic practical training for nutrition graduates from Ryerson and other universities. From working with patients to assisting with the research process, dietetic interns benefit from a high-quality learning environment that supports the development of the comprehensive competencies needed to enter professional dietetics.

“This program will increase our ability to train the registered dietitians of tomorrow and hopefully help us to recruit these students in the future to meet the complex needs of our growing urban population– mothers and young children, the disadvantaged under-housed who may also be undernourished as well as the urban upwardly mobile who are interested in ensuring that they eat healthy to maintain their fitness and wellbeing, ” said Dr. Patricia Houston, vice-president of education at St. Michael’s.

Ryerson University and St. Michael’s Hospital have a long history of successful partnerships and joint programs in nursing, psychology and, most recently, iBEST – a biomedical engineering and science research partnership for Ryerson faculty members, students and St. Michael’s scientists and clinicians working on “bench-to-bedside” research.

“The Professional Master’s Diploma in Dietetics builds on the rich history of partnerships between Ryerson and St. Michael’s Hospital while leveraging the resources of both institutions to enhance the experiences of students and preceptors,” said Mohamed Lachemi, provost and vice president academic, Ryerson University.

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For more information, please contact:

Suelan Toye
Public Affairs
Ryerson Unviersity
416-979-5000 ext. 7161
stoye@ryerson.ca

Leslie Shepherd
Manager, Media Strategy
St. Michael’s Hospital
416-864-6094
shepherdl@smh.ca