Dietary Department

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The dietary department at the Lebanese American University Medical Center-Rizk Hospital (LAU Medical Center-RH) houses the Nutrition & Dietetics and the Foodservice division. It resonates with the medical center’s mission by committing to patient-focused nutrition care and foodservice delivery, par excellence. Both units work concomitantly in optimizing nutrition care and services through evolving the practice of clinical, community, and foodservice dietetics as well as educating future dietitians and other healthcare providers while upholding the tradition of interprofessional education (IPE). Patients are entitled to healthy, delicious, safe and nutritious food options available as per tolerance and preference.

The Foodservice division’s clientele includes but is not limited to visitors, staff, executives, patients, students, residents, and fellows. It manages unique retail food operations while ensuring that the organoleptic quality, safety, and security are of high caliber, through:

Overseeing the service flow, from procurement to production and service, in accordance with the hazard analysis of critical control point’s system guidelines.
Orchestrating menu development, food production, patient, and customer service while managing its financial operations and addressing food safety and sanitary procedures through proper monitoring and evaluation.
Supervising the deliverables of the chefs, food attendants, transporters, and stewards at the kitchen. As well as leading the staff members at the food storage warehouses, the cashiers and counter attendants at the cafeteria.

The Nutrition & Dietetics division aids the medical center’s community on their dietary needs, through, their dietetic professionals, including clinical dietitians, a diet aid, nutrition students along with preceptors. We all work collectively through:

Intervening with inpatients, through acute and critical care, as well as outpatients, through ambulatory care while abiding by the nutrition care process model.
Empowering clients to address their nutritional challenges and intervene with their nutrition problem(s) via a myriad of medical nutrition therapy interventions.
Serving as members of the interprofessional healthcare teams at the inpatient wards, apart from the routine visits to the one-day chemotherapy and hemodialysis ambulatory units.
Providing evidence-based practice nutrition care through assessing patient’s nutritional status, diagnosing the nutritional problem, selecting the appropriate plan of the nutrition intervention, monitoring patient’s progress, and evaluating the effectiveness of the intervention while working in tandem with inpatient’s primary physician, among other practitioners.
Operating in the educational advancement of other healthcare team members, as part of its IPE culture, by acting as moderators to meetings and providing educational sessions on the adequate use and the importance of nutrition care provisions to beneficiaries of the medical center.
Preparing and implementing awareness sessions, health fairs, and promotion programs on various topics, depending on the event, such as world food safety day, world diabetes day, world cancer day, among others.
Revising, amending, and implementing policies and procedures related to nutrition care and foodservice activities in line with current and novel guidelines that arise that foster service and care advancement and innovation.
Supporting clinical and translational research projects pertinent to nutrition care on non-communicable diseases, among others.
Housing the supervised dietetic practicum of the Nutrition and Dietetics Coordinated Program in collaboration with the Lebanese American University (LAU) School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Natural Science. The program focuses on hands-on experiential learning, and equips its students with conducting nutrition focused physical exams to better prepare them for the objective structured clinical exam. Program competencies are set by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics, the accrediting agency for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Upon completion of their practice, students become well-prepared to sit for the nutrition colloquium exam, administered by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, to issue their Licensure in Dietetics from the Ministry of Public Health. For more information about the program, please visit https://soas.lau.edu.lb/academics/programs/bs-nutrition-dietetics-coordinated-program.php.

Message from our Senior Dietitian

Our team consists of qualified dietitians counselling for an extensive assortment of clinical areas and conditions for both healthy and sick people at an individual and wider public health level. We advise people as inpatients on the wards as well as outpatients in clinic. The team also encompasses a diet aid, nutrition students, preceptors and volunteers.
Dedicated to a daily clinical round in synchronization with a multidisciplinary healthcare team we screen, assess, diagnose, treat and monitor patients’ dietary and nutritional problems. Provision of nutrition support is also embedded in our day-to-day care in all critical and non-critical care units.
Using the most evidenced based public health and scientific research on food, health and disease we strive to translate top findings into practical guidance fostering people to make appropriate lifestyle and food choices.
We are also committed in providing house staff and nursing staff with educational gatherings. They are aimed towards improved understanding of specialized nutrition for better outcome within a patient centered approach. We also deliver special educational sessions to residents, medical students focusing on hospital’s diet and nutrition assessment. We also contribute to the continuous education of the family medicine residents through a wide variety of topics about nutrition across the life cycle.
Helping patients to maintain an adequate intake and a good level of nourishment within a paramount state of health and wellbeing along with lifelong medications are rooted within our everyday caution.

Message from our clinical dietitian

After completing my master’s degree in 2019, I went back to my internship site, to LAUMC-Rizk Hospital but this time as an inpatient clinical dietitian. More recently, I am also working with LAU as a preceptor to Coordinated Program (CP) students in their oncology rotation. I am glad to be working in this institution with its rewarding program, excellent competent staff, and highly suitable environment.

Message from the CP practicum coordinator

Our partnership with LAUMC-Rizk Hospital Dietary department provides our students with a unique opportunity exposing them to a variety of enriching experiences. Students are members of interprofessional teams and attend interdisciplinary rounds; they apply a variety of nutritional assessments (including nutrition-focused physical exams) and clinical interventions at the patients' bedside. Students also contribute to community projects and awareness campaigns in collaboration with the LAUMC-Rizk Hospital Dietary department.

Message from the Nutrition Students 2020-2021

Practicing our internship at LAUMC-Rizk Hospital has been an eye-opening experience. We had the opportunity to put the knowledge we attained into practice, captivating our ability to provide care for those who need it. It is our duty to serve LAUMC-Rizk Hospital, our second home, as it has equipped us with the necessary tools to provide our patients with better nutrition care, quality of life and a healthier Lebanon.

Message from our volunteers

We would like to thank the dietary department for providing us with the opportunity to work as volunteers at LAUMC-Rizk Hospital. We had the chance to work as part of one of the best teams; a team who made us feel valuable in the department.

This experience gave us the ability to learn so much and to explore various work settings within the field.

So thank you for giving us such a great opportunity for learning.

Our Mission

The dietary department is committed to patient-focused nutrition care and foodservice delivery, with excellence, as well as advancing the practice of clinical, community, and foodservice dietetics through educating future dietitians and other healthcare providers while upholding the tradition of inter-professional education.

Our Vision

To improve the quality of services provided by the dietetic department, along with medical nutritional care, and maintaining the well-being of the community by securing health awareness sessions.

Our Values

Continuous self-development: achieving excellence in quality of service.
Teamwork: nurturing joint effort within the whole department to achieve the desired goals.
Ethics: abiding by the Code of Ethics to reflect the values and ethical principles guiding the nutrition and dietetics profession and setting forth commitments and obligations of the practitioner to the public, clients, the profession, colleagues and other professionals.
Excellence: being creative and seeking new approaches in the conveyance of nutrition care.
Compassion: demonstrating care and concern toward patients, their families, and colleagues.

Hours of Operations

Every day from 7am till 6:30 pm

Location and Extension

Inpatient:
Location: Building E, Floor 5 Extension: 5063

Outpatient:
Location: Building D, Floor 4 Extension: 5414