Participant clients needed for nutrition counseling program

Purdue University’s Department of Nutrition Science is seeking adult volunteers willing to serve as clients for graduate students who are in a combined graduate degree and supervised practice program to prepare them for their future careers as registered dietitians.

Participants will meet every other week with their graduate student nutrition counselor, beginning the first week of February 2026 and wrapping up during the last week of classes. Appointments will occur in person in Lyles-Porter Hall. The first meeting is an assessment and may last up to 60 minutes, but each subsequent meeting will be around 45 minutes in length.

The assessment meeting will include a variety of dietary measures, blood pressure readings and lab work (via a finger stick) to determine hemoglobin A1C, blood glucose, total cholesterol, LDL, HDL and triglyceride levels.

Student nutrition counselors will take a holistic approach to tailored nutrition strategies and planning based on the client’s needs, goals, desires and limitations.

Every appointment will be observed by instructor Rachel Clark, clinical assistant professor of nutrition science, who is also a registered dietitian. Appointments will be recorded purely for the student’s benefit in learning and reflective practice.

Appointments will be scheduled by Clark prior to the first meeting so that all the following five to six meetings can occur on the same day of the week and time of day on a biweekly basis.

Interested participants can answer screening questions here to determine if the client’s needs are a good match to the student’s abilities. Clark will respond within two to three days with next steps.

Questions can be directed to Clark at rachelclark@purdue.edu.