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About Nutritional Medicine Practitioners (NMPs)
The practice of nutritional medicine in Malaysia requires a graduate-entry qualification since its qualifying and practical training programmes are examined at a post-graduate/post-experience level.
The professional body for Nutritional Medicine Practitioners is the Association of Nutritional Medicine Practitioners Malaysia (ANMPM)(www.amnp.org.my).
Association of Nutritional Medicine Practitioners (ANMP) Malaysia accords NMPs right to practise
Under the ANMP Board Certification Programme, all medical doctors are required to undergo two and a half years intensive part-time qualifying programme in order to obtain the Practising Membership from the ANMP Council. Whereas, for all other graduates, they will only obtain a Membership level from the Council. To qualify for the rights to practice, non-medical doctors are then required to undergo an additional one-year supervised clinical training at a recognised wellness centre, clinic, or hospital approved by the Council.
Those interested in receiving training or further training in nutritional medicine should first write to the ANMP and give details of their academic and professional background.
Once T&CM Act 2016 have been fully enforced, the practising rights will be issued by the T&CM Council instead upon recommendation by ANMP.
Difference between NMPs & dieticians/nutritionists
Dieticians tend to restrict themselves to designing diets recommended by orthodox doctors for whom they work and they usually design them for a rather narrow purpose such as a low sodium diet or a low-calorie diet. While, there is no generally agreed definition of a “Nutritionist” and many graduates in nutrition, food science/technology, or in related disciplines tend to call themselves as such.
Generally, degrees in nutrition do not adequately cover pathophysiology as well as training in medical diagnosis and treatment (therapy) which are prerequisites for practising nutritional medicine.
However, some coverage on medical applications of nutrition can be found at the post-graduate levels and in particular the United States master’s or doctorate degrees in nutrition. Holders of these regionally-accredited degrees may apply for accelerated route with the Association of Nutritional Medicine Practitioners Malaysia (ANMPM), the professional body for nutritional therapists in Malaysia.
Within the Ministry of Health (MoH), both dietician and nutritionist belong to Allied Health Division whereas nutritional medicine practitioner belongs to complementary medicine and is regulated by its T&CM Division. A Certificate of Practice for nutritional medicine is not issued to anyone gainfully employed by any commercial organization involved in marketing or promoting any products.
Nutritional medicine practitioner covers a much wider area of nutrition which has potential for medical applications.
Thus, to practice as a nutritional medicine practitioner, one would require a prescribed period of supervised clinical experience in the diagnosis and treatment of patients in hospitals, wellness centres, and/or other approved establishments.
In summary, there are three parts to qualifying as a nutritional medicine practitioner:
Stage 1 - Degree-level training in the combined areas of nutrition, pathophysiology, biochemistry of foods and nutraceuticals
Stage 2 - Training in diagnosis, pathology, and treatment of named medical conditions
Stage 3 - Supervised clinical training at an approved center/hospital/clinic. (Medical doctors are exempted from this training).