Clinical Nutrition
Our dietitians offer evidence-based clinical nutrition care to help you manage and achieve your health goals.
Clinical Nutrition
Our dietitians offer evidence-based clinical nutrition care to help you manage and achieve your health goals.
Expert Dietitians Dedicated to Your Nutritional Wellness
Whether you need to improve your diet, lose weight, prepare for surgery or manage a chronic disease, our USC Clinical Nutrition team provides expert care and personalized treatment plans to help you reach your nutrition and wellness goals.
A consultation with one of our registered dietitians is generally started by a referral from your primary care provider, surgeon or specialist. Together with your care team, our dietitians help you identify and address any nutritional issues with your diet, eating habits and weight management.
In addition to supporting your general wellness goals, our team specializes in providing nutritional support to help you prevent and treat chronic conditions. Our nutrition experts also play an important role in surgical optimization by helping you before surgery, during your hospital stay and throughout your recovery.
Conditions We Specialize In
Our dietitians offer tailored nutrition services and treatment for a wide range of health conditions, including:
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Cancer
- Celiac disease
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Crohn’s disease
- Cystic fibrosis
- Diabetes, including prediabetes
- Diverticulitis
- Eating disorders
- Enteral (tube feeding) nutrition
- Food allergies and intolerances
- Gestational diabetes
- Heart disease
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- High triglycerides
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Kidney disease
- Liver disease
- Malnutrition
- Mast cell activation syndrome
- Obesity
- Organ transplants
- Osteoporosis
- Parenteral (IV) nutrition
- Pregnancy/lactation
- Sports nutrition
- Surgery optimization
- Ulcerative colitis
- Weight management
- Wound care
Clinical Nutrition Services We Offer
Our dietitians offer nutrition services to patients undergoing treatment across a diverse field of medical specialties.
Bariatric Surgery
- Our dietitians work closely with the USC Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery team.
- We provide preoperative and postoperative medical nutrition therapy and nutrition counseling to bariatric surgery patients.
- Our services include preoperative weight loss support and follow-up care designed to help patients understand energy, protein, fluid and micronutrient intake.
- Our team offers nutrition education classes to help patients who have undergone bariatric surgery manage their well-being and weight loss journey.
Cancer
- Our team provides nutrition therapy to patients with cancer — from diagnosis to treatment to survivorship.
- We design evidence-based, tailored nutrition plans for our patients and help them dispel cancer-related food myths and fears.
- Our goal is to optimize each patient’s nutrition status and quality of life.
Concierge Medicine
- Our registered dietitians are available to work with Keck Signature Care patients.
- We leverage the most advanced technologies and evidence-based practices to provide accessible, comprehensive and customized therapeutic nutrition services.
- We design specialized nutrition plans to help our patients achieve their wellness goals.
Cystic Fibrosis
- Our team offers specialized nutrition therapy to patients diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.
- We provide a full suite of nutrition support services, including personalized medical nutrition therapy, to help patients maintain their weight and absorb enough nutrients to optimize their health.
- We also work with patients and their health care team to optimize pancreatic enzyme and supplemental vitamin intake.
Surgery Optimization
- Our dietitians work closely with patients before and after surgery to help optimize nutrition status and promote healing and recovery.
- We collaborate with patients and their caregivers, along with their health care team, to design a tailored nutrition treatment plan.
Transplant
- Our dietitians assist patients undergoing transplant surgery and treatment.
- We help patients prepare for the complexities of posttransplant care and provide vital nutrition education.
- Our services include preoperative and postoperative nutrition therapy for bone marrow, heart, kidney, liver, lung and pancreatic transplantation.
Weight Management
- Our dietitians provide support at all phases of the weight management journey.
- We work with patients to meet their weight goals, establish a healthy relationship with food and make lasting lifestyle changes.
- For patients with body mass index (BMI) ≥30, we offer our intensive Keck COACH program, which consists of frequent telemedicine visits to promote sustained weight loss.
Wound Care
- Our registered dietitians provide nutrition therapy plans designed to optimize healing and wound care.
- We help our patients improve their diet to ensure they are getting all of the nutrients needed to heal.
What Is a Registered Dietitian?
All of the dietitians at Keck Medicine of USC are registered dietitians. Registered dietitians are professionals who specialize in providing medical nutrition therapy to help prevent and treat both acute and chronic diseases.
Registered dietitians must complete specialized academic and professional training, including a dietetic internship approved by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, specialized certification under the Commission on Dietetic Registration and mandatory continuing professional education.
Registered dietitians may also choose to use the credential: registered dietitian nutritionist.
Most of our registered dietitians have advanced degrees and/or specialty certifications, as well as a vast array of clinical experience and expertise.
Nutrition Tips During Cancer Treatment
- Cancer Eating Hints, National Cancer Institute
- Food Safety During Cancer Treatment
Download PDF: English | Spanish | Chinese | Korean
Nutrition Tips for Healthy Eating and Weight Management
- Importance of Hydration
Download PDF: English - Principles of Intuitive Eating
Download PDF: English - Plant-Based Diets
Download PDF: English - Weight Management Tips
Download PDF: English
Nutrition Tips for Organ Transplant Care
- Food Safety for Transplant Recipients, Food and Drug Administration
Nutrition Tips for Surgery Patients
- Nutrition After Hospital Discharge
Download PDF: English | Spanish | Armenian - Guide to Nutrition Before and After Surgery
Download PDF: English
Nutrition and Wound Healing
- Wound Healing – Diabetes
Download PDF: English | Spanish - Wound Healing – High Protein
Download PDF: English | Spanish
Nutrition Education Classes
Our team offers nutrition education classes to help patients who have undergone bariatric surgery. Classes are held monthly via Zoom and cover a range of topics, including healthy diet, cooking techniques and maintaining weight loss.
Additional Resources
The following organizations offer information about nutrition, food safety and general health.
Personalized Nutrition Therapy To Improve Your Health
Our nutrition specialists are all registered dietitians with extensive clinical experience and specialized academic and professional training.
We work in close collaboration with you and your care team to design a treatment plan tailored to your nutritional needs and wellness goals.
Our care team provides nutritional support for a wide range of specialties, including bariatric surgery, cancer treatment, organ transplants, cystic fibrosis, wound care and more.
Our dietitians are available for inpatient and outpatient assistance, for example, before surgery, during your hospital stay and after surgery.
We offer personalized nutrition education and evidence-based therapies to help you with disease prevention and management.
Our team provides virtual nutrition education classes to help postoperative bariatric patients manage their well-being.