Certified Practising Nutritionist
What is a Certified Practising Nutritionist?
'"A Certified Practicing Nutritionist (CPN) is a tertiary educated, degree qualified, clinically trained Nutritionist (Practicing Nutritionist) whose qualifications have been assessed and accepted as meeting the training and competency standards of the Australasian Association and Register of Practicing Nutritionists (AARPN).
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CPNs are bona fide primary care nutrition practitioners who practice Clinical Nutrition, which includes dietary modification (applied within a Clinical Nutrition/Nutritional Medicine paradigm) and the prescribing of supplements for both nutrient repletion and complex Nutritional Medicine purposes. CPNs bring a critical skillset to the allied health dietary services space – namely their independent prescribing capacity, independent client assessment skill-set, and training in individualised preventative healthcare.
A Certified Practicing Nutritionist (CPN) should not be confused with a non-clinically trained nutrition scientist (also termed a Nutritionist) who will not have undertaken 300 hours or more of supervised Clinical Nutrition Therapy clinical practicum training, in combination with the required clinical skills theory curricular (i.e. pathophysiology, pharmacology, independent clinical examination, independent complex case taking, counselling, and independent Clinical Nutrition / Nutritional Medicine prescribing)."
(The Australasian Association and Register of Practicing Nutritionists (AARPN))
What services can a CPN provide?
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"A CPN is trained to engage with both health and disease, both from the perspective of supporting good health and supporting the remediation of disease states. CPN degree programs contain the combination of pathophysiology training and independent clinical examination, which imbues an intrinsic capacity to assess and monitor wellbeing and identify when referral to other health professionals is required – such as referral to Medical Doctors, Psychologists, Counsellors, and Exercise Physiologists.
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CPNs are trained to take a detailed medical case history which can include information on previous medical diagnoses and results of previous pathology tests. A CPN – in a scientific evidence based manner – will use acquired information in conjunction with their own clinical expertise (and any additional pathology testing required) to generate a differential assessment that translates the client’s needs within a nutritional biochemical scientific paradigm.
This enables the CPN to identify and construct a customised nutritional medicine intervention program to help the client obtain their health goals. Any novel information or insight gained on emerging pathology is referred to the client’s primary Medical Doctor."
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(Allied Health Care Professionals Australia)
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