Issue 21:3 of Topics in Clinical Nutrition takes on the ever popular topic of "Changing the Face of Dietetics Education." Every decade or so, educators and practitioners in dietetics and other health fields wonder whether graduates today are prepared for future practice. O'Sullivan Maillet begins this topic with a commentary on dietetics education and the questions that need to be answered or explored so that "we can plan our future" appropriately.

The nutrition care process (NCP) was adopted for dietetic practice in 2003 and now dietetic educators are challenged to integrate NCP into didactic and supervised practice programs. Lacey was a leader in developing the NCP model and provides approaches on how to expose students to evidence-based practice, the NCP, and standardized language for nutrition diagnoses of the dietetic profession.

Steiber and Barkoukis explain a model of research experiences in their dietetic internship graduate program. They have integrated research into the program as individualized projects with clinicians and researchers and emphasized evidence-based dietetics practice and the Institutional Review Board application and approval process.

Food service management competencies are core to the practice of dietetics. Gregoire and colleagues discuss how to incorporate active learning strategies and real-life experiences into the classroom environment. They also contend that continuing education opportunities in food service management need to be expanded to assist in the professional development of dietitians.

Physical assessment of nutritional status has been noted as an essential component of clinical nutrition practice and should be incorporated into dietetic internships and didactic education programs. However, nutrition-focused physical assessment mainly has been taught in graduate programs and the extent of skills and knowledge to be taught differs among dietetic educators and clinicians. Riva Touger-Decker, a pioneer and proponent of physical assessment, provides a clear-cut description of the nutrition-focused physical examination and pays attention to the development of competency from "novice" to "proficient."

Nutrition counseling has also been expanded in dietetics curriculum and Jeff Fine, LCSW, presents the key components of an integrated model of nutrition counseling that combines interpersonal communication and psychotherapeutic counseling skills. In his appendix there are several examples of refining the counseling interaction between the dietitian and the client. Group supervision is supported as a teaching method that has been used successfully with dietetic students.

Johnson examines the literature on dietary considerations for children with autism. Her article summarizes the research and anecdotal reports that have been proposed and examined. She cautions the use of overly restricted diet regimens, excessive vitamin and mineral supplementation, and other approaches that have not been efficacious.

Colored food dyes have been used in enteral formulas to monitor patient aspiration since 1982; however, there have been adverse effects reported in the literature. Radich and Hilderbrandt suggest that instead of tinting enteral formulas, health professionals should emphasize aspiration prevention.

Glycemic index and glycemic loads have been touted as possible explanations for affecting adherence to weight-loss diets. Metallinos-Katsaras and her colleagues examined the effect of a preexercise meal's glycemic load and energy intake after moderate exercise in 12 females. They found a meal with low subsequent hunger and energy intakes and suggest future research to examine micronutrient content and glycemic index or serum glucose and insulin levels.

Obesity remains a concern for legislators, educators, health professionals, and families, especially for children. Cason and Logan conducted a project with fourth graders to compare knowledge with an educational intervention about nutrition and physical activities. They showed that students in intervention classrooms had higher scores on knowledge than their peers and maintained the information at the 5-month follow-up.

Thank you for your feedback and contributions to Topics in Clinical Nutrition. Please let us know if you want to be an author or reviewer for future issues. Special appreciation and gratitude to our guest editor, Patricia Samour, MMSc, RD, for the excellent job she did in designing and implementing the Dietetics Education Section.

Judith A. Gilbride, PhD, RD, FADA

Editor