Serves as the advisor to the Medical Treatment Facility Commander (MTF/CC) in matters pertaining to food service, nutrition and dietetics. Plans and manages nutritional medicine operations to include food production and the performance of clinical and preventive dietetic activities. Coordinates with and makes recommendations to commanders, staff agencies, and military base organizations concerning nutrition and dietetics issues.
Manages nutritional medicine activities. Formulates and implements policies and procedures for the organization and operation of nutritional medicine in peacetime and wartime environment. Sets and enforces standards and monitors administrative and technical activities. Determines requirements for food service facilities, personnel, equipment, and operations. Procures, manages, and safeguards all nutritional medicine flight resources and supervises food production and service operations. Inspects and evaluates food preparation and service for conformance with regulatory standards. Ensures the nutritional medicine activity operates within budget, sanitation, and safety standards. Plans and implements training programs for nutritional medicine personnel. Ensures appropriate contingency plans are developed. Coordinates nutritional medicine operations with professional and administrative services of the medical facility. Supports medical readiness operations, as needed. Performs inpatient clinical dietetics activities. Plans nutritionally balanced regular and therapeutic menus, considering factors such as quality, palatability, attractiveness, availability of food supplies, and budget. Interprets and calculates therapeutic diets and enteral or parenteral nutrition prescribed by authorized providers. Conducts and coordinates nutrition screening to determine nutrition risk and assesses nutrition status of patients. Conducts nutrition rounds and interviews patients. Instructs patients on content and purpose of therapeutic diets. Consults with medical staff on population or patient nutrition requirements and intervention. Participates in the care of inpatients as part of multidisciplinary patient care team. Follows patients and documents progress routinely throughout hospitalization. Implements the Nutrition Care Process in accordance with the American Dietetic Association (ADA) guidelines. Performs outpatient, community, and preventive dietetics activities. Provides outpatient counseling in group and individual settings, as appropriate. Provides nutrition assessment, medical nutrition therapy and nutrition education to health care beneficiaries as part of collaborative disease management programs. Interprets and calculates therapeutic diets prescribed by authorized providers. Conducts follow-up counseling and collects and tracks outcomes of nutrition care. Provides nutrition briefings to participants of wellness programs as part of a multidisciplinary team. Provides environmental assessment and community-based education and intervention to encourage and support health and wellness. Implements the Nutrition Care Process in accordance with the ADA guidelines. Coordinates dietetics activities. Advises the MTF/CC on the status and effectiveness of nutritional medicine activities and community-based nutrition. Performs nutrition aspects of research and development studies. Assists in development of nutrition policies and programs for aviation personnel and special operations personnel. Educates patients, healthcare providers and staff, as needed. Confers with commanders and staff agencies on matters such as nutritional adequacy of meals, equipment requirements, commissary and subsistence matters, personnel, manpower, and other functions related to nutritional medicine activities. Acts as nutrition consultant for the base community, including schools and child development centers. Consults with other governmental or private agencies on nutrition and dietetics matters, as needed. Maintains specialty knowledge of emerging scientific research and advances in the field of nutrition and dietetics. Provides dietetic consultative services to medical treatment facilities without dietitians and as requested.
For award of 43D3 AFSC, a minimum of 24 months of experience in dietetics assignment and registration by the Commission on Dietetic Registration of the ADA are mandatory.