Clinical Development Service
As a practitioner in the nutrition field, you understand that every client presents unique challenges. Whether you're a newcomer or an experienced professional, the responsibility of addressing complex health conditions can be overwhelming. That's where AG Nutrition's Clinical Development Consultations come in.
What is the Clinical Development Service?
The clinical development consultations provided by AG Nutrition, offer a confidential platform to discuss challenges, questions, concerns and uncertainties that nutritional therapy practitioners and clinical nutritionists encounter in their practice. As well as a sounding-board to explore ideas with, the sessions make it gain new insights, proactively target gaps in knowledge, confidence or experience, and save you and your client time, by learning from the expertise, cautions and previous mistakes of an experienced nutritional therapy practitioner.
During the clinical development sessions you can explore anything from case-taking questions and interviewing techniques, to forms and handouts, laboratory interpretation, interpersonal relationship dynamics and safeguarding issues.
The purpose of the clinical development service is to enhance the proficiency and confidence of nutritional therapists and clinical nutrition practitioners like you, to share safe, effective advice that makes a real difference to your clients health and fitness goals.
How do Clinical Development Consultations Work?
Clinical development consultations are available on a one-on-one basis, or in small groups of up to four practitioners. You can purchase consultations on a pay-as-you-go basis, or book a package of regular monthly consultations for up to 12 months. For one-on-one support, the appointments will last a minimum of one hour. For group sessions, a minimum of 2 hours of clinical supervision is required to ensure that all group members benefit from the expert and peer insights shared during the session.
Before each consultation, you will be asked to provide a brief, anonymised written case overview, summarising health history, goals, nutrition habits, and any test results or recommendations you've provided to date to the client(s) you wish to discuss. This will allow us to maximise the time efficiency.
During the sessions, we will address your questions and concerns, through a combination of trouble-shooting, clarification, and receive practical advice, education and actions to take.
What are some of the specific features of clinical development consultations?
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Confidential discussion of challenging cases
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Prioritisation of action points
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Ensuring safe practice while minimising short-term and long-term harm
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Evaluation of cost-effective therapeutics and laboratory assessments
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Interpretation of laboratory unfamiliar tests, or non-textbook results.
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Proofreading protocols and referral letters, for accuracy, relevance, safety and legal health claims
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Workshops for case understanding, learning, and development
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Identification of psychological dynamics affecting client relationships
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Reduction of overwhelm, burn-out, and over-stretching your skill base
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Recognition of limitations in your scope of practice and appropriate referrals
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Adaptation of questioning and recommendations based on unique client needs
By allowing for a confidential discussion of challenging cases, practitioners can gain a deeper understanding of complex health conditions and better ways to approach them.
How do AG Nutrition's Clinical Development Consultations help in managing professional burnout and overwhelm?
These consultations help manage professional burnout and overwhelm by identifying psychological dynamics affecting client relationships, and recommending ways to handle these dynamics. These dynamics may be between you and your client, you and your relationship with yourself, or dynamics in your personal life that may be affecting your work.
The sessions can highlight areas for improved efficiency in administrative or clinical processes that could save you time, energy and reduce stress. We may also explore, where relevant, how aligned your business vision, mission and values are with your practice, skills and passions, to target hidden internal conflicts that can drain your motivation and enthusiasm. You will also receive guidance on reducing the risk of over-stretching your professional skill base, aiding in creating a balanced, sustainable practice.
How does AG Nutrition's Clinical Development Consultations facilitate client relationship management?
Most clinical disciplines can be affected by a range of complex personal, social, cultural or psychological factors. Clinical training as a student can make it easier to recognise, anticipate and improve sensitivity to these when working with clients. However, with so much to think about, and the quick pace of clinical practice, sometimes we might miss an important barrier to communication, understanding, or progress. This is where clinical development support can help.
The support you receive during the clinical development sessions with AG Nutrition, can help you to adapt your questions on forms, during case-taking, education and follow-up appointments, as well as the recommendations you provide, to maximise the focus, detail, relevance and transparency of communication. The aim is to optimise your ability to understand and navigate your clients health issues and support them to make the changes that matter the most. By improving the way you gather the information you need during diet planning, and how you explain your recommendations, you can inspire action, honesty and trust more consistently.
There may be circumstances where more subtle dynamics affect your therapeutic relationship with clients, such as transference, counter-transference, projection and cognitive or social biases, which are often unconscious. If patterns emerge with clients, in how you feel, communicate, think or feel, this can often provide clues that benefit from deeper exploration. Addressing these issues in clinical development consultations ensure that you receive a tailored and empathetic approach to client care that places you as a person, not just a practitioner, at the centre.
How do AG Nutrition's Clinical Development Consultations ensure safe practice?
With over 14 years of nutritional therapy clinical practice experience, and over 7 years providing academic and clinical training to student nutritional therapy practitioners, as well as a decade of clinical development support for practitioners, Adam has a broad and deep understanding of the regulatory, legal, professional scope of practice and safeguarding frameworks that nutritionists and nutritional therapy practitioners must consider when running a clinical nutrition business.
During the consultations, Adam emphasizes the importance of recognising limitations in a professional's scope of practice and making appropriate referrals when necessary. The consultations create an opportunity to maintain safe practices by minimizing short-term and long-term harm through careful case evaluation and prioritisation of action points. We also discuss health claims and compliance with these in your nutrition plans, and the terms of your insurance and professional membership.
To learn more about how AG Nutrition's Clinical Development Support can help elevate your practice, get in touch or explore our pricing and packages by clicking on the link below! Empower yourself to provide exceptional care to your clients while continually growing as a nutrition professional.