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Exterior of Grand River Hospital KW Campus

Master of Applied Nutrition, Waterloo Regional Health Network Stream

Immerse Yourself in Clinical Nutrition

If you are interested in the Master of Applied Nutrition program and see yourself working as a dietitian in a hospital setting, the Waterloo Regional Health Network Stream (MAN-WRHN) is for you.

The Master of Applied Nutrition is a career-focused program with students gaining 30+ weeks of hands-on experience in practicum placements. The Classic MAN Stream places students with three different community healthcare partners for equal focus on three major areas of dietetics. Students with a strong interest in working in a hospital receive training with more emphasis on clinical rotations in the Waterloo Regional Health Network Stream while completing the same graduate coursework and research components.

Waterloo Regional Health Network Stream students are exposed to several clinical settings within the hospital over the course of a challenging but highly rewarding year. Could this be you?

3 semesters
from September to August
37 weeks
of hands-on experience
5 clinical rotations
at Waterloo Regional Health Network
Exterior of Grand River Hospital's Freeport campus

About Waterloo Regional Health Network

Waterloo Regional Health Network (WRHN, pronounce "wren") is the largest health service provider in Waterloo Region and Guelph-Wellington. As a proud community teaching hospital, WRHN delivers an exceptional learning experience for students in 60+ professional disciplines. Students at WRHN are challenged and stretched during their learning experience, but are never without mentorship and support.

WRHN operates three main campuses in Kitchener-Waterloo as well as several satellite locations.


The Waterloo Regional Health Network Practicum Experience

Spread of goji berries, avocado, and spinach

Nutrition Care

20 + 3 Weeks

As a MAN student in the Waterloo Regional Health Network Stream, you'll complete five different clinical rotations. Each rotation will last four weeks, for a total of 20 practicum weeks focusing on Nutrition Care in a variety of clinical settings.

Your rotations will include a mix of outpatient and inpatient areas, ensuring you gain experience with a wide range of clinical skills, from counselling to nutrition support and everything in between.

Clinical rotations can be scheduled throughout all three semesters of the program. Regardless of your individual schedule, you'll wrap up your year in the program with three weeks of consolidation. Consolidation is an opportunity to return to an area you have previously trained in and practice more independently, while still under the supervision and mentorship of a dietitian.

Throughout your rotations, you'll also meet registered dietitians and other healthcare professionals, not only broadening your horizons for a career in nutrition, but also giving you plenty of networking opportunities.

Between each four-week clinical rotation, you'll have a Flex Week to focus on graduate coursework and prepare for your next rotation.

Sample Clinical Rotations at Waterloo Regional Health Network

  • Clinical Teaching Unit (CTU)
  • Complex Continuing Care (CCC)
  • Diabetes
  • Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
  • Medicine
  • Mental Health
  • Oncology
  • Pediatrics
  • Rehab
  • Renal
  • Stroke
  • Surgery
The Food Services team at Grand River Hospital

Food Provision

8 Weeks

During your eight-week practicum in Food Provision, you'll work alongside the hospital's nutrition and food services team, which is responsible for the management of a centralized cold plating/retherm system that delivers thousands of meals and snacks to patients each day.

While completing your rotation, you'll be introduced to all aspects of food service operations, including food production and distribution, and you'll contribute to managing human and physical resources and finances.

Grand River Hospital rehabilitation staff posing

Population Health Promotion

6 Weeks

Your six-week practicum in Population Health Promotion will be completed through a community healthcare provider.

Whether you're placed with a public health unit, community health centre or a university wellness program, you'll gain invaluable training on interpreting food and nutrition surveillance data, health status data, and information related to determinants of health and health equality.

You'll learn how to integrate your assessment findings and then identify nutrition-related assets, resources, and needs in order to contribute to a population health plan.

Katie McTaggart
Katie has been working as a clinical dietitian at Waterloo Regional Health Network since graduating from the MAN-WRHN program in 2020. She works primarily with surgical and hemodialysis patients to provide nutrition care that complements her patients' health care goals.Katie attributes her ability to work with a diverse group of patients to the variety of clinical exposure that she received as a student in the MAN-WRHN program."I would highly recommend the MAN-WRHN program to anyone interested in becoming a clinical dietitian. The variety of clinical exposure, in addition to community placements and supplemental coursework gave me a unique and well-rounded education that set me up for success early in my career as an inpatient dietitian."

Katie McTaggart, Alumni
Master of Applied Nutrition, Waterloo Regional Health Network Stream

Larissa Lee
During her undergraduate degree, Larissa became interested in working in a hospital setting. The MAN-WRHN program introduced Larissa to a variety of roles for dietitians within acute care and showed her how dietitians are vital members of the interdisciplinary teams that drive patient care in hospitals.Larissa now works as a dietitian on an acute care medicine unit at Waterloo Regional Health Network, where she conducts nutrition assessments and implements nutrition care plans to support patients during an acute illness."I loved the challenge that the program offered me. Every four weeks, I was able to immerse myself in a new area of clinical practice. The variety within the program boosted my confidence when starting my first role as a dietitian."

Larissa Lee, Alumni
Master of Applied Nutrition, Waterloo Regional Health Network Stream

A registered dietitian counsels a patient.

Careers After Graduation

The hands-on nature of the Master of Applied Nutrition program means you'll be well-prepared for your career as a registered dietitian when you graduate. MAN students graduate with the required competencies to take the national Canadian Dietetic Registration Exam (CDRE) to become registered dietitians.

Registered dietitians work in a variety of settings, including hospitals, community health centres, clinics, long-term care facilities, private practice, government, the food industry, and more.

During your practicum placements, you'll be learning and networking at the same time. Select students in the Waterloo Regional Health Network Stream are often hired to keep working at the hospital after graduation.

Applying to MAN

  • Completion of an undergraduate degree1 from a dietetic program accredited by the EQual/Accreditation Canada or the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) within the last three years2, with a minimum cumulative average of 75% in the last four semesters of study
  • Completion of a statistics course with a grade of 75% or higher
  • Completion of a social science research methods course with a grade of 75% or higher
  • Completion of three one-semester 400-level courses in human nutrition
  • Access to a car for travel to practicum placements

1Requirements may be in progress at the time of application, but must be completed by April 30 of the program entrance year.

2Applicants who completed their accredited undergraduate program more than three years ago may still be admitted with a Level 1 result from the Knowledge and Competency Assessment Tool (KCAT).

Prospective graduate students must apply to the University of Guelph online, through the Ontario Universities Application Centre (OUAC).

After submitting an online application for the Master of Applied Nutrition program, you will be invited to submit required documents through the University of Guelph's online system, WebAdvisor.

See the full guide on applying to MAN.

Visit the Student Financial Services website for full details on domestic and international tuition per semester.

MAN applicants are encouraged to apply for external scholarships in the fall of the year before entering the program. External award opportunities include, but are not limited to:

Applicants can also browse scholarships available to graduate students in the Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition.

MAN Webinar

Interested in applying to the Master of Applied Nutrition?

Watch our webinar to learn more about the program and how to apply! We go over the application process, discuss what to expect in the program, and answer your questions!

Get in Touch

Questions about the Master of Applied Nutrition program or the Waterloo Regional Health Network Stream? Contact:

Shauna Porter
Graduate Program Assistant
Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition
Email: man.grad@uoguelph.ca