The Institute for Optimum Nutrition
Lectures
Most of our lecturers are specialist therapists with immense experience in their chosen field. They bring their subject to life, making it vibrant and relevant to you as a practitioner.
There are six hours of lectures per day at each lecture weekend, which occur monthly during the academic year (October-June). All lectures are recorded digitally and available for purchase in the form of CDs. This means that if in exceptional circumstances you are unable to attend a lecture (attendance is a course requirement), you can still hear the lecture and read the notes. The CDs are also an invaluable revision tool and information database.
Seminars
Seminars are a vital part of the course in which groups of 12-16 students meet with their tutor for a three-hour seminar during the week preceding a lecture weekend, and so occur once a month. Seminars provide an interactive environment to explore areas of the curriculum that cannot be covered in lectures.
All ION course tutors are ION-qualified nutritional therapists with significant clinical experience. They are friendly and supportive, and want you to succeed on the course. The seminar activities are varied and interactive, mainly involving group work and aiming to meet the different learning styles of our students. Activities may include devising menus, analysing research, discussing case studies, evaluating the usefulness of biochemical tests, or exploring how best to motivate clients to comply with your advice and return for follow-up consultations.
Practical seminar homework tasks are an extremely important part of your training. You will be asked to keep a food diary, research food products and recipes, analyse your diet, undergo elimination and detoxification diets, and subject yourself to various biochemical and physiological tests.
Seminars are also an opportunity for students to get to know each other better and to share ideas and experiences. ION students come to nutrition from a wide range of backgrounds, and everyone’s specialist knowledge or individual experience is valued.
Seminars mainly take place at ION in Richmond, usually from 6–9pm, although there are some daytime seminars.
Reading
You are expected to put aside on average 20 hours per week for private study. The majority of this time will be spent on background reading and researching assignments. There is a reading list provided for each year of the course, which includes about half a dozen essential texts and a number of recommended texts. For each module you will be provided with a handbook, which includes your guided reading. It refers to relevant parts of the essential and recommended texts to read in relation to specific lectures, seminars and assignments.
Assessment
Each module is assessed separately and includes assessed course work. The assignments are varied to ensure you can demonstrate analytical, evaluative and problem solving skills as well as breadth and depth of knowledge. They include essays, research reports, projects, case studies, preparing information handouts for clients, and a dissertation in the final year. Some modules have an end of year examination as part of the assessment. The clinical practice modules are assessed by clinical tutors who observe you giving consultations to clients in the training clinic on an individual basis and in a dedicated clinical practice weekend.
Register interest in our Nutrition Courses
If you are interested in one of our Nutrition Courses and would like to be sent one of our full colour information packs, details of available open days and an application form then simply visit our register interest page and fill out our online form
* General Disclaimer - Information and advice provided by The Institute for Optimum Nutrition is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. Anyone suffering from a condition that requires medical attention or who has symptoms that concern them, should consult a qualified medical practitioner. ION and its staff shall not be held responsible for any claims relating to illness or ailments that are deemed to have arisen as a consequence of reading any part, or all of the content provided on this website. The content is provided for general use and may be unsuitable for people suffering from certain conditions, diagnosed or otherwise.
The Institute for Optimum Nutrition is an independent educational charity, registered company number 2724405, registered charity number 1013084.
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