The Graduate Certificate in Applied Nutrition (GCAN) offers a specialized pathway for career advancement in the fields of nutrition, health and wellness. This certificate is ideal for professionals looking to deepen their expertise in nutritional sciences without committing to a full MS degree.

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About the Graduate Certificate in Applied Nutrition

The online Graduate Certificate in Applied Nutrition (GCAN) provides a path to career advancement in the fields of nutrition, health, and wellness outside of a traditional master's degree.

The 14-unit GCAN can be completed in less than one year and offers core courses in advanced nutritional sciences, including metabolism, disease, and applied nutrition, along with your choice of several elective courses designed to tailor your studies to your specific interests. The GCAN is appropriate for a wide range of healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, chiropractors, medical assistants, health and wellness coaches, personal trainers, and more.

The GCAN is suitable for a broad range of healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, chiropractors, medical assistants, health and wellness coaches and personal trainers. Whether you're seeking to enhance your current practice or pivot to a new area within the health and wellness industry, the GCAN equips you with the advanced nutritional knowledge needed to excel and make a meaningful impact in your field.

This certificate is NOT a pathway to become a registered dietitian nutritionist (RD/RDN). Please visit the PSM Dietetics page for information about this pathway.

Program Information

Contact nsw-psm-nw@arizona.edu for more information.

Learning outcomes

Students enrolled in this program engage in learning opportunities that will enhance their ability to:

1. Define and describe evidence-based nutritional science research methods and apply appropriate research methods to clinical case studies in research scenarios.
2. Synthesize current scientific literature from various sources to produce a review paper written in the style of a nutrition journal and produce a presentation appropriate for health professionals.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the metabolism and genetic interactions of the macronutrients, including application to health and disease.
4. Identify risk factors associated with the development of chronic disease and describe dietary management strategies for the prevention and management of the most common chronic diseases.
5. Demonstrate the ability to critically review and evaluate the literature related to nutrition and topics covered in the certificate courses using methods established by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) Evidence Analysis Laboratory.
6. Demonstrate an understanding of the metabolic influences of select class topics regarding anthropometric, biochemical, clinical, and diagnostic parameters used for assessing systemic and nutrition health status.
7. Apply and evidence-based approach to examine medical nutrition therapy for the prevention and management of related class topics.
8. Describe the fundamentals of data collection and measurement.
9. Identify appropriate statistical models and software for quantitative data analysis.