Bachelor's degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics’s objectives and professional skills

To provide scientific training in all areas related to nutrition- and food-related science throughout the food chain while helping students to develop the attitudes and skills necessary for extensive action in the subject of applied nutrition.

To provide future applied nutrition professionals (dieticians) with extensive knowledge of basic sciences, nutrition and dietetics, public health and nutritional education, organisation and management, languages and other complementary subjects.

Professional skills:

- Professional values, attitudes and behaviour:

• Recognise the basic principles of the profession, including ethical principles, legal responsibilities, and professional practices, applying the principles of social justice to professional practice and carrying it out with respect for people, their habits, beliefs and cultures.
• Carry out professional work with respect for other health professionals, acquiring teamworking skills.
• Recognise the need to maintain and update professional skills, paying particular attention to continuous self-study to learn about new knowledge, products and techniques in the field of nutrition and food, and to ensuring quality.
• Understand the limits of the profession and its competences, identifying when interdisciplinary treatment or referral to another professional is required.

- Communication and information handling skills:

• Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with people, health and industry professionals and the media, understanding how to use information and communication technologies with particular reference to nutrition and lifestyle.
• Possess knowledge of sources of information related to nutrition, food, lifestyles and health issues, and know how to critically evaluate, use and apply those sources.
• Be able to prepare reports and complete records related to the professional services provided.

- Knowledge and application of food sciences:

• Identify and classify food and food products. Know how to analyse and determine their composition, properties, nutritional value, the bioavailability of their nutrients, organoleptic properties, and the changes that occur when they are subject to technological or cooking processes.
• Possess knowledge of basic processes used to prepare, transform and preserve food of animal and vegetable origin.
• Prepare, interpret and manipulate food composition tables and databases.
• Possess knowledge of the microbiology, parasitology and toxicology of foodstuffs.

- Knowledge and application of Nutrition and Health Sciences:

• Possess knowledge of nutrients, their function in organisms, their bioavailability, needs and recommendations, and the basis of energy and nutrition balance.
• Understand and evaluate the relationship between food and nutrition for healthy and sick people.
• Apply scientific knowledge of physiology, physiopathology, nutrition and food to planning and providing dietary advice to individuals and groups, throughout the life cycle and for both healthy and sick people.
• Design and implement protocols for evaluating an individual's nutritional condition, identifying nutritional risk factors.
• Interpret a nutritional diagnosis, evaluate the nutritional aspects of a medical record and plan dietary actions.
• Possess knowledge of the structure of hospitals' food services and food and nutrition units, identifying and carrying out the functions of dietician/nutritionist in a multi-disciplinary team.
• Participate in the organisation, management and implementation of the different aspects of food and nutritional support in the hospital and of outpatients' dietetic/nutritional treatment.

- Knowledge of the basics of public health and community nutrition:

• Possess knowledge of national and international health organisations and of the different health systems and the role of the dietician/nutritionist in them.
• Possess knowledge of and be involved in the design, implementation and validation of nutritional epidemiological studies, and participate in the planning, analysis and evaluation of food and nutrition programmes in different areas.
• Be capable of participating in activities to promote health and prevent conditions and illnesses related to food and lifestyle, providing education on food and nutrition to the general population.
• Participate in the planning and implementation of policies related to food, nutrition and food safety based on the needs of the population and protecting health.

- Acquisition of legal and scientific management and advisory skills:

• Evaluate the development, selling, labelling, communication and marketing of food products in accordance with the needs of society and current scientific knowledge and legislation.
• Interpret reports and administrative documentation on food products and their ingredients.

- Acquisition of skills to manage quality and catering operations:

• Participate in the management, organisation and development of food services.
• Prepare, monitor and participate in the planning of menus and diets adapted to the characteristics of the group for which they are intended.
• Ensure the quality and safety of products, facilities and processes.
• Provide appropriate training on hygiene, health, diet and nutrition to catering workers.

- Development of critical analysis and research skills:

• Acquire basic training to carry out research activities, being able to form hypotheses, collect and interpret information to resolve problems according to the scientific method, and understand the importance and limitations of scientific thinking in the field of health and nutrition.

Skills:

• Knowledge of the bases and fundamentals of the human body and human nutrition and food.
• Knowledge of the different food groups, their composition, organoleptic properties, manufacturing and processing and the handling of food composition tables.
• Knowledge of food hygiene and safety practices, quality system management and aspects related to food company management, marketing and economics.
• Knowledge of nutrients and application of knowledge of the food sciences to the practice of dietetics and medical nutrition therapy.
• Knowledge of the physiopathological aspects of diseases related to nutrition, identification of dietetic-nutritional problems and assessment and calculation of nutritional requirements health- or disease-related situations.
• Knowledge and design of dietetic-nutritional education systems and planning of epidemiological studies and nutritional food policies.

 

Bachelor's degree in Physiotherapy’s objectives and professional skills

To train general physiotherapists with the scientific training and skill necessary to describe, identify, treat and compare health problems that physiotherapy can help.

To this end, students must be able to use a series of methods, procedures, models, techniques and actions which, by means of applying physical mediums, can treat and aid the recovery and adaptation of people who are suffering from deterioration, functional limitations, disabilities or changes in their physical functions and state of health, whether the result of a lesion, illness or other cause. They must also be able to use the aforementioned mediums in health promotion and maintenance, and in preventing illness and its consequences. Furthermore, they must consider the individual in his three dimensions, that is, biological, psychological and social.

Professional skills

• Possess knowledge and understanding of human morphology, physiology, pathology and behaviour in both healthy and sick people in the general and social context.
• Possess knowledge and understanding of the sciences, models, techniques, and instruments on which physiotherapy is based and practised.
• Possess knowledge and understanding of physiotherapeutic methods, procedures and actions, both in therapy as such applied in clinical conditions in order to re-train or recover functionality, and in the performance of activities intended to promote and maintain health.
• Acquire clinical experience to obtain the necessary intellectual abilities and technical and manual skills, to facilitate the incorporation of ethical and professional values and to develop the ability to assimilate the knowledge acquired so that, at the end of their studies, the students know how to apply them both to specific clinical cases in a hospital or non-hospital context and to primary and community healthcare activities.
• Evaluate the functional state of the patient, taking into account physical, psychological and social aspects.
• Perform a diagnostic evaluation of physiotherapeutic care in accordance with standards and internationally recognised instruments of validation.
• Design a physiotherapy treatment plan according to criteria of appropriateness, validity and efficiency.
• Implement, manage and coordinate the physiotherapy treatment plan, using appropriate therapeutic tools and taking into account the user's individual situation.
• Evaluate the progress of the results obtained from the treatment in relation to the defined objectives.
• Prepare the physiotherapy discharge report once the objectives have been attained.
• Provide effective physiotherapy care, ensuring patients receive overall care.
• Participate in the fields of health promotion, preventive medicine, protection and recovery.
• Know how to work with professional teams as a basic unit in which professionals and other staff in healthcare organisations are structured along single- or multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary lines.
• Incorporate the profession's ethical and legal principles into professional practice and include social and community considerations in decision-making processes.
• Participate in the preparation of physiotherapy care protocols based on scientific evidence, promoting professional activities that boost research in the field of physiotherapy.
• Carry out physiotherapy treatments based on integrated healthcare principles, involving multi-professional cooperation, process integration and continuity of care.
• Recognise the importance of updating the knowledge, abilities, skills and attitudes that make up the professional competences of the physiotherapist.
• Acquire clinical management skills, including the efficient use of healthcare resources and carry out planning, management and control activities in the care units where physiotherapy care is provided, paying attention to their links with other healthcare services.
• Be able to communicate effectively and clearly, both orally and in writing, with health system users and with other professionals.

 

Career opportunities

• Clinical nutrition
• Community nutrition and public health
• Collective catering
• Legal, scientific and technical consultancy
• Food commercialisation, communication and marketing
• Medical specialties in different fields of action
• Primary care and outpatient physiotherapy services
• Home visit physiotherapy
• Hospital physiotherapy (acute care hospitals; socio health and day hospitals)
• Geriatrics, in geriatric facilities
• Assisted living facilities
• Day centres
• Physical and/or mental disability
• Assisted living centres
• Day centres
• Educational and occupational therapy centres
• Occupational therapy workshops
• Dependency
• Evaluation of the degree of dependence
• Apart from healthcare, the assessment and use of the appropriate technical aids and the correct adaptation of surroundings is an important task, and carers must be trained in this; they must also be trained to provide comprehensive care to the dependent person, promoting personal autonomy and preventing dependency
• Sports
• Competitive sports clubs
• Sports facilities
• The workplace
• Promotion and teaching of occupational health
• Prevention of work-related risks in the services for this purpose, carrying out risk assessment and employee training
• Prevention
• Health promotion and education
• Training/teaching and research
• Management