On the Making of a Clinical Nutritionist

Clinical nutrition may be defined as the application of the principles of nutrition science and medical practice to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of human disease caused by the deficiency, excess, or metabolic imbalance of nutrients. At present, many physicans do not appreciate the great traditions established by their forebears in this field (Hippocrates, Lind, Eijkman, Glisson, Casal, Livingstone, Hopkins, and Goldberger). They have tended to avoid nutritional problems, plead ignorance of nutrition principles, and delegate the nutritional care of their patients to paramedical personnel. Only by changing this situation can members of the medical profession offer adequate care to their patients. In this chapter, I have attempted to present the duties and responsibilities of a clinical nutritionist in an academic environment. A well-trained academician in such a position can improve the education of medical students in nutrition, attract well-motivated graduates into nutrition training programs, and establish clinical nutrition as a bona fide subspecialty of medicine.