First and foremost, Congratulations on gaining a place on our Practitioner Diploma Online course – its going to be such an exciting adventure, full of learning and inspiration! We hope that you enjoyed your first attendance day and we can’t wait to get you started on the Home Study element of your training.
Before we get into the good stuff we just wanted to take a moment to give you a little overview and some more detail about the nuts and bolts of how the online course works in practice, to ensure that the coming months flow easily for you.
Structure
The online element of the course is comprised of 11 modules which can be completed at your own pace. Each of the 11 Modules will have a series of ‘topics’ covering subjects such as ‘Preparation’, ‘Anatomy and Physiology’, ‘The Science of Nutrition’ or ‘Case Work’ and there will be coursework which must be completed and emailed to us for marking. Although you will be able to move between all topics within a Module you will not be allowed to continue through to the next Module until the next attendance date for your course has passed……so, in effect, you will receive a monthly ‘package’ (Module) of work to be completed. We will endeavour to assess your work within 2 weeks of receiving it and to return it to you via email, with a grade and feedback from the marking tutor so you will be able to feed your learning into your next module. This release of information will continue until the last attendance day in July. From time to time we will add extra bonus modules to enhance your learning or simply just for fun!
The monthly modules will also contain audio recordings of the lectures given at the college attendance days. So if you have to miss a day occasionally, then its easy to catch up. Its also a brilliant extra study aid as you can listen to them again and again until the information sinks in!
Course Flexibility
We have a flexible policy towards coursework – you complete it at a time to suit you and your commitments. So if you have a busy October (as we do) then you can do a little less work and make it up later in the course when you have more space. In order to qualify then you must complete and pass all of your coursework and sit your exams successfully. We won’t overload you with too much information about your exams just yet – we will ease you in to that during the course and help you to plan and prepare with plenty of time to spare.
Questions and Queries
If you have any technical questions about the topics you are studying then you should write those down on the homework return slips so that the marking tutor can deal with any areas of confusion or misunderstanding. If a query arises that is preventing you from progressing with your study, then please call the office and we will put you in touch with a tutor who can handle your enquiry immediately, however, we would ask you to use this facility only when absolutely necessary. There will also be ‘support tutors’ available at every attendance day if you wish to seek guidance from them – they are all previous students who will be glad to assist you by sharing their course experiences.
Many groups also choose to set up a WhatsApp or Facebook group to share tips and offer moral and practical support to each other.
Background Research
The lectures, reading and references we supply as part of the course are only the basis of your learning – it is important to read widely to broaden your understanding and you should try to reflect this in your written work. Your recommended reading list is a brilliant source of information and the internet is a veritable sweet shop when it comes to finding interesting ideas and concepts to expand your learning horizons! A word of warning though – be discerning when it comes to your reading – for every well researched, well evidenced, thought provoking article you read there will be one which is no more than an opinion piece – so try to ‘critique’ things that you read before you assimilate them into your beliefs and/or your coursework. Asking questions, searching for references to back up (and criticise) articles you find, and looking at any information in the context of what you are learning on the course can all help you assess the usefulness of any internet research.
Personal Learning Journal
Within each module you will find activities which relate to your ‘Personal Learning Journal’. This part of the course has been designed to help you to experience your learning and as such it is not assessed – any work that you do on this is for your eyes only! It is such a wonderful part of the course that we would really encourage you to make time for this even though it does not constitute part of your formal assessment.
Clinical days
As part of our Clinical Practice course there will be the opportunity for you, as students and your friends and family to participate in our supervised clinical days. Throughout the academic year we invite people to The Foundation to take the role of ‘patient’ for our second year students. This service is free of charge to anyone who wishes to use it but please remember that these Practitioners are in training. This is a great opportunity for anyone who would like some help and advice on their health so please feel free to pass our number on to anyone whom you think may benefit from this service.
Finances
By now, your regular monthly payment plan should be in place. We only have one firm rule at the Foundation – and that relates to course fees. Once you are enrolled then you are liable for the full course fee and your fees must be paid in accordance with your agreed schedule – we do this to maintain the financial health of the college so that we can continue our great work for the benefit of all students. If you have any issues or challenges with finances that affect your ability to pay then please talk to us immediately so we can help. In fact, if you have any question or queries at all regarding payment then please do contact us at the office for a chat – we are here and really do want to support you!
Well, that’s the end of the Introduction. Please don’t try and take in all this information at once – refer to it whenever a query pops up, and of course, if the answer is not here then please do not hesitate call us at the office on 01749 671555 (9.00am to 3.00pm, Monday to Thursday) or drop us an email to Team@nutrihealfoundation.com
We hope that you enjoy your studies and wish you the very best of luck – you are about to embark upon a remarkable journey!
Ali, Lesley, Elaine, Jo and the team at Nutriheal
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