The Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy has unveiled a new program in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this semester, allowing students from the region to earn a master's degree equivalent in nature to one obtained at the school's Boston campus.
The one-year Master of Nutrition Science and Policy is provided through a joint effort of the Friedman School and the UAE-based Ras Al Khaimah Education Company (EDRAK), which is responsible for developing higher education within the emirate of Ras al-Khaimah.
Raj Parikh, CEO of EDRAK, selected the Friedman School, the only graduate school of nutrition in North America, to collaborate on the program.
"It is particularly exciting to partner with a school like Tufts and use its full-time American faculty to come and deliver the program in the UAE," Parikh told the Daily in an e-mail.
The curriculum focuses on providing students a strong foundation in nutrition as well as policy-based instruction touching on food policy fundamentals and the monitoring of nutrition programs. Graduates of the program are expected to work in governmental ministries, nongovernmental organizations or nutrition-related community activities.
The program allows high-potential students who are not able to study in the United States to receive training on par with the standards offered on the Tufts campus, Friedman School Dean Eileen Kennedy said.
"Our partnership with Ras al-Khaimah gives us an opportunity to have a win-win situation," Kennedy said. "Students from the region of the Middle East and Southeast Asia get a much-needed [foundation] in the field of nutrition, and we are training leaders in an area where it had been hard first to recruit students."
The Friedman School is the first to offer a master's degree in nutrition in the UAE, according to Friedman School Professor Lynne Ausman, director of the master's program. It comes at a time when the number of nutrition-related diseases is growing exponentially in the region.
"Very few people launch community-related careers in the field of nutrition in the Gulf region because there is a lack of training," Ausman said. "But the nutrition-related diseases are the same [as] here: obesity, comorbidities of diabetes, overnutrition. The objective of this program is to train leaders in nutrition that would be able to offer solutions to these problems."
Instruction is provided through a "hybrid" learning model, combining three residency sessions in the UAE with longer periods of online distance learning.
This hybrid-learning model allows students who are mid-career professionals to apply the program to their current work, Director of Distance Learning Paul Giguere, an assistant professor at the Friedman School, told the Daily.
The five students currently involved in the program, whose ages range from 30 to 40, already have full-time jobs in the field of health.
The 12-month-long academic year started on March 20 with the first 10-day face-to-face residency session in Ras al-Khaimah. Three faculty members taught in a classroom setting.
The first session was met with great interest and success among the international students, according to Robert Houser, professor of statistics for nutrition professionals for the spring term.
"Students were practically jumping out of their seats to be in the program," Houser said. "I expected students in a new program would be shy but they were actually very motivated and excited."
Until the next residency session, which will take place in August, students will complete the remainder of the coursework through distance learning.
The university's learning management system, similar to the Blackboard system employed on the Medford/Somerville campus, grants students access to online resources. They all plan to remain in constant contact with their professors via e-mail and Skype.
A graduation ceremony in Ras al-Khaimah will occur at the end of the academic year, and graduating students will be able to come to Boston to purse a doctoral degree at the Friedman School.
