The Degree in Dietetics and Nutrition was created after a proposal by the Scientific Council of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon in 2004, and is a part of the scientific area of Health Sciences, lasting four academic years.

Indeed, nutrition is fundamental to maintain life and development. Malnutrition associated to illness is documented in a high proportion of hospital patients and out-patients, being associated to greater morbility and mortality, with it being accepted that nutrition is not only relevant to maintain health and growth, but also to prevent chronic illnesses and promote health, and it is of note that in terms of public health increasing relevance is being attached to obesity, often in detriment to under-nutrition.

The fundamental aim of this degree course is to train specialists in Dietetics and Nutrition with a cultural and technical training that allows them to join multi-disciplinary or nutrition teams: in the community, in hospital, in teaching and in research. Graduates, besides acquiring specific knowledge in the area of nutrition tending towards their application, will have to begin training in organization and management, quality, planning and the implementation of the results of procedures.
In order to achieve this aim the degree course had the collaboration of the Faculty of Pharmacy and the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon, and also of several departments from the Faculty of Medicine.

The degree course worked very well, with the number of students enrolled being in line with what was planned and with an acknowledged success rate within the Faculty of Medicine, as well as in all the institutions that received the students in training periods. Changing times have led to the creation of the Degree Course in Health Sciences, in which the Faculty of Medicine is responsible for the subject of Introduction to Dietetics and Nutrition, also strongly backing post-graduate training with the creation of Second Cycle (Masters) and Third Cycle (PhD) Courses in the area of nutrition, with the beginning being programmed for the coming academic year 2010/2011.

Degree in Dietetics and Nutrition

Helena Cortez-Pinto
Nutrition and Metabolism Unit, Department of Gastroenterology, Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM), Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon
Tel. 351217985187,
Fax 351217985142,
E-mail: hlcortezpinto@netcabo.pt