Donnelly Jennifer, Walsh Louisa, Hughes Roger, Lane Rebecca
Department of Allied Health, School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia.
Department of Cardiothoracics and Surgical Oncology, St. Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia.
J Hum Nutr Diet. 2025 Jun;38(3):e70074. doi: 10.1111/jhn.70074.
The Australian private practice dietetics workforce has been rapidly expanding, partly due to structural changes in reimbursement policies and the increasing number of dietetics courses that have led to a growing influx of graduates into the private practice dietetics domain. However, graduates and experienced private practitioners have highlighted inadequate exposure to private practice during their training, citing a lack of business skills, minimal counselling skills and limited or no private practice placements. There appears to be a gap between employment realities for graduates and workforce preparation relevant to private practice dietetics. The aim of this study was to analyse the publicly available curriculum information related to private practice dietetics entrepreneurship preparation in accredited Australian dietetics courses.
Accredited dietetics course details were obtained from the Dietitians Australia website. Publicly available course information was assessed from university websites. A content analysis of curriculum relating to private practice entrepreneurship including programme and unit descriptions, course and unit learning outcomes, unit content, assessments and placements was completed against a predetermined framework developed from previously published literature.
This study included all 22 accredited courses across 18 universities, comprising eight bachelor's degrees and 14 master's by coursework. Fifteen courses across 13 universities had units that included elements in the analytical framework. Business planning and development, as well as leadership, were the most commonly covered in the curricula; however, the depth of content was difficult to ascertain due to the limitations of university website content transparency. Private practice placements were included in seven courses; however, placements were often elective or of short duration. Other framework elements such as client retention strategies and legal and regulatory considerations had coverage across a limited number of courses across universities.
The findings of this content analysis suggest that curriculum pertaining to private practice entrepreneurship, although underdeveloped, is embedded in some accredited courses. Transparency of curriculum content within accredited dietetics courses in Australia varies, limiting prospective students' ability to ascertain what learning experiences they will be exposed to after enrolment. Further research is required to ascertain the curriculum necessary to support the preparation of student dietitians for private practice.
澳大利亚私人执业营养师队伍一直在迅速扩大，部分原因是报销政策的结构变化以及营养学课程数量的增加，这导致越来越多的毕业生涌入私人执业营养学领域。然而，毕业生和经验丰富的私人执业者强调，他们在培训期间对私人执业的接触不足，理由是缺乏商业技能、咨询技能有限或几乎没有私人执业实习机会。毕业生的就业现实与私人执业营养学相关的劳动力准备之间似乎存在差距。本研究的目的是分析澳大利亚认可的营养学课程中与私人执业营养学创业准备相关的公开课程信息。
从澳大利亚营养师协会网站获取认可的营养学课程详细信息。从大学网站评估公开的课程信息。根据先前发表的文献制定的预定框架，对与私人执业创业相关的课程进行内容分析，包括课程和单元描述、课程和单元学习成果、单元内容、评估和实习。
本研究包括18所大学的所有22门认可课程，其中包括8个学士学位课程和14个课程作业硕士学位课程。13所大学的15门课程设有包含分析框架要素的单元。商业规划与发展以及领导力是课程中最常涵盖的内容；然而，由于大学网站内容透明度的限制，内容深度难以确定。7门课程包括私人执业实习；然而，实习通常是选修的或持续时间较短。其他框架要素，如客户保留策略以及法律和监管考虑因素，在各大学的有限数量课程中有所涉及。
这项内容分析的结果表明，与私人执业创业相关的课程虽然不够完善，但已纳入一些认可课程中。澳大利亚认可的营养学课程中课程内容的透明度各不相同，限制了准学生确定入学后将接触到哪些学习经历的能力。需要进一步研究以确定支持学生营养师为私人执业做准备所需的课程。
