Only one course in the Republic provides the appropriate qualifications to work as a dietician. Run conjointly by DIT Kevin Street and TCD, it is listed under DIT in the CAO handbook. Students attend lectures in both colleges and receive an honours diploma from DIT and an honours degree from TCD.

In common with other paramedical courses, human nutrition is much sought-after, with a cut-off of 480 last year. There are about 20 to 25 first-year places and a small number are allocated to mature students.

DIT course tutor Mary Moloney says: "The aims of the course are to provide an integrated undergraduate training in the science of nutrition and dietetics and to apply this training to the human being at an individual level and a community level. Graduates are also eligible to work in the food and pharmaceutical industries."

The four-and-a-half year course includes six months practical training in a clinical setting. Students complete six placements in those six months. They are based in teaching hospitals in Dublin and they spend time in other hospitals and community settings around the country.

On the academic side, the first-year basic science courses are common with DIT's biomedical science students. Students also study communications, a foreign language and food studies. Communications is studied throughout the course and students also take computer studies.

Students are first introduced to nutrition and dietetics in second year. These key subjects are supplements by other sciences, such as microbiology, physiology and biochemistry.

Moloney says there is no unemployment among graduates but a lot of students go to Britain for their first job and return home after gaining some experience. "In the past week, I've had half a dozen employers in Britain desperately looking for our graduates." Graduates of the DIT/TCD course are eligible to apply for state registration in Britain.

Last year, a reciprocity agreement was signed with the American Dietetic Association which means that graduates are now recognised in the US. There is only one other country in Europe with this type of arrangement, says Moloney. It opens doors to very interesting posts, she adds.

Moloney conducted a survey of graduate destinations in 1996. This survey, which covered the preceding 10 years of graduates, found that 56 per cent are employed in the clinical and community area (the traditional area of employment), with 17 per cent in the academic area (teaching or postgraduate research), 16 per cent in the pharmaceutical and food industries and 11 per cent dispersed among various other areas. Nobody was unemployed. Industry is quite attractive to graduates, she notes, usually offering higher salaries and fringe benefits.

More posts in the community and health promotion areas have been created recently, says Moloney. The proportion of students opting for postgraduate studies is also increasing.