Background

There is prevalence of malnutrition in most of the developing countries, including Nepal. It is the responsibility of the nation to combat it. In this connection, National Planning Commission prioritized a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition & Dietetics (B.Sc. ND) program in 2006 A.D. to address this problem. Central Campus of Technology, therefore, can be an appropriate place to run the course. The existing courses of B. Tech. (Food) and B.Sc. (Microbiology) will be helpful and play a complementary role for successful running of B.Sc. ND program.

Objectives

The curriculum is aimed at protecting health and saving lives by deploying knowledge and expertise in the field of nutrition and dietetics. Hence, the course is intended to produce graduates with recognized clinical, public health and diet management skills. The graduates will be qualified to work as nutritionist and dietitian in the hospital setting and other specialized areas such as community and public health and other food and nutrition related sectors.

Eligibility for admission

Candidates who have passed I.Sc., 10+2 in Science, I. Tech. in Food/Lab Technology, or equivalent securing at least second division or equivalent shall be considered eligible to apply for admission to BND.

Admission criteria

A student who seeks admission to BND program:

• Must appear in an entrance examination of two hours duration conducted by Central Campus of Technology, Institute of Science and Technology (IOST), TU.
• Candidates securing at least 50% marks in the entrance examination are eligible to admit in the program.
• The selection of the students for admission will be based as per the merit of the entrance examination.
• Candidate must comply with all the application procedures.

Course structure

The entire BND course is of eight semesters (four academic years) constituting in total of 127 credit hours. Each semester consists of 16 to 18 credit hr (equivalent to 400 to 450 marks) except semesters VII and VIII.

In total, thirty-two papers are offered. Among them, eight papers consist of theory only; two theory papers consist of 3 credit hours (75 marks) and remaining six theory papers are given 2 credit hours (50 marks) each. Twenty-four papers consist of both theory and practical part. Thirteen papers are given 3 credits hours (2 credit hour theory and 1 credit hour for practical), while the rest eleven papers are given 4 credit hour (3 credit hour for theory and 1 credit hour for practical) each. One credit hour has given 25 marks for both theory and practical parts, respectively. For theoretical part, 1 credit hour has 16 teaching hours and for practical part, 1 credit hour has 12 to 16 practicals (36 to 48-16 teaching hours) depending upon the nature of the course. Each practical has 3 hours of duration.

In the seventh semester, there are two compulsory courses, namely, (i) Community based posting (2 months) of 6 credit hour and (ii) hospital based posting (3 months) of 8 credit hours. In the eighth semester students should carry out dissertation work of 12 credit hours as mentioned in the curriculum.

Curriculum