COURSE CURRICULUM

The Nutritional Sciences option in the UNH Nutrition Program is a highly science-intensive track designed to prepare students for advanced study and careers in health, medicine, and research. This program requires a strong academic foundation with a minimum grade of C-minus in all nutrition courses and includes an extensive set of foundation, science core, and specialized nutrition courses. Students begin with foundational studies in human anatomy and physiology, sociology or psychology, and a statistics course to build an understanding of the human body, behavior, and data analysis. The science core is particularly rigorous and includes introductory biology, evolution and ecology, general and organic chemistry with laboratory work, biochemistry, microbiology with lab, and genetics, providing a deep understanding of biological and chemical processes essential for advanced nutrition science. The nutrition core introduces essential concepts such as nutrition in health and well-being, professional perspectives in nutrition, nutritional assessment, and life cycle nutrition. The nutritional sciences option then expands into advanced coursework, including calculus for life sciences and specialized subjects like nutritional biochemistry and micronutrient biochemistry, which focus on how nutrients function at the molecular and metabolic levels. Students also select additional electives from a wide range of nutrition-related topics such as food science, food systems, nutrition education, sports nutrition, epidemiology, clinical nutrition, community nutrition, cultural food studies, and research methods, allowing them to tailor their studies to specific interests. An additional elective outside the major at an advanced level further broadens academic experience. The program strongly emphasizes research, analytical skills, and scientific reasoning, often including opportunities for field experience, teaching, or honors thesis work. Overall, this track prepares students for entry into professional schools such as medicine, dentistry, nursing, or physical therapy, as well as graduate studies or technically oriented careers in nutrition science, public health, and biomedical research.