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Higher education institutions for dieticians
Higher education institutions for dieticians (Akademien für den Diätdienst und ernährungsmedizinischen Beratungsdienst) provide vocational education and training and entitle their graduates to work as qualified dieticians (Diätologin/Diätologe) (completion: diploma thesis and diploma examination). After the secondary school leaving examination (Reifeprüfung), the programme takes three years and is offered at several sites in Austria.
> Access
• physical fitness
• good character and standing
• a school-leaving certificate (Reifeprüfungszeugnis) issued by an academic secondary school, a vocational secondary school, a nursery teacher training college or a foreign higher education entry certificate or a diploma in nursing (Diplom im gehobenen Dienst für Gesundheits- und Krankenpflege) or a university entrance examination (Studienberechtigungsprüfung) for medical studies
• aptitude test
• a board decides on admission
> Programme
Theoretical instruction/subjects: first aid and wound dressing; anatomy; physiology; pathophysiology; pathology; hygiene and environmental protection; food hygiene; chemistry; nutrition; diet for healthy infants/children; food science; food legislation; clinical dietetics; diet therapy for infants and small children; calculation of energy values and nutrient contents; planning, selecting, designing and preparing meals for healthy and ill persons; simple laboratory test methods; basic business administration, book-keeping and calculation of costs; special operational and economic kitchen management; basic pharmacology; theoretical and practical foundations of pedagogy, conducting interviews, counselling and presentation techniques, supervision; nature and ethics of the profession; psychology and sociology; basic health, labour and social security legislation; introduction to operational hospital management; IT, medical informatics, statistics and documentation; medical English; theoretical and practical introduction to nursing.
Practical training: nutrition; diet for healthy infants/children; clinical dietetics; diet therapy for infants and small children; calculation of energy values and nutrient contents; planning, selecting, designing and preparing meals for healthy and ill persons; special operational and economic kitchen management; theoretical and practical foundations of pedagogy, conducting interviews, counselling and presentation techniques; general hygiene and environmental protection; food hygiene; IT, medical informatics, statistics and documentation.
> Job description / field of activities
Autonomous selection, design and calculation of special diets for persons who are ill or suspected to be ill on a doctor’s orders as well as guidance on and supervision of the preparation of the related meals, including the provision of advice to ill persons or their family members on the practical implementation of a doctor’s dietary instructions inside and outside of the hospital; selection, design and calculation of diets for healthy persons and groups or persons and groups subject to special physical stress (e.g. pregnancy, sports), including the provision of advice on nutrition to them without a doctor’s orders.
> Career
Dieticians may work as self-employed persons or may be employed by hospitals, other establishments under medical management or supervision that specialise in the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of diseases or in the nursing of persons needing care, or by medical practitioners.
> Further opportunities for education and training
Following the basic programme for dieticians, some higher education institutions offer specialised courses for special, teaching, lecturing and managerial tasks.
Furthermore, there are the following opportunities for qualified dieticians:
• university courses
• university studies (e.g. medicine, nutrition science)
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