The existence of professional Dietitians nutrition workers is very much needed, based on the consensus results, the target ratio of Health (Nutrition) workers in 2022 is 0.35 per 1000 population. The need for nutrition workers in hospitals, the functional positions of nutritionists and dietitians in 2023 show a ratio of 1:10, plus currently only 2 percent of nutrition workers are dietitians from the total of 43,599 nutrition workers according to data from the Ministry of Health. Therefore, the need for nutrition workers needs to be increased, considering that their role is also very important in supporting the government program that is currently being implemented, namely Free Nutritious Meals. This was conveyed by the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences (FIKES) Universitas Brawijaya (UB) Prof. Dian Handayani SKM, M.Kes, Ph.D when inaugurating 45 graduates in the Dietitian Oath activity, Wednesday (15/1).
Prof. Dian added that if we pay attention to the needs in Indonesia for the number of professional dietitians, it still seems far from expectations, FIKES as one of the organizing institutions continues to encourage students to become professional and quality alumni. From the results of the tracer study, UB showed that dietitians who worked directly less than six months after graduation reached 57.4 percent with an average waiting time of less than three months. This data shows that UB dietitians graduates work in accordance with their fields, reaching 90.7 percent. In addition, the opportunity to become educators (lecturers) is still wide open if graduates continue their Masters in Nutrition, considering the many Nutrition educational institutions that open dietitiian professional programs.
Yosfi Rahmi, S.Gz, M.Sc as the head of FIKES UB Dietitian Profession study program said that the graduates who took the Dietitian Oath consisted of 31 regular program students and 14 students from the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) program, so that FIKES UB Dietitian Profession study program currently has graduated 196 graduates.
“We express our high appreciation to the regular and RPL program students who have successfully passed 100 percent of the national dietetic competency test. Especially for RPL students, graduates have proven that three roles as students, health workers and parents in the family, are not an obstacle in pursuing professional education, especially for RPL students who are the first batch. Their enthusiasm is extraordinary,” he said. [UB PR/ Trans. Iir]