Claire Palermo

Aims The aims of this study were to: (1) explore perspectives of university students' and academics' regarding disordered eating, eating disorders and body image in relation to pedagogy and curricula and (2) to evaluate a co‐designed student seminar and an academic workshop on these topics. Methods A participatory action research approach was employed whereby an educational intervention was co‐created by academics and students. An online seminar was presented to students and a 1‐h workshop was presented to academic staff. Evaluation was conducted via a post‐seminar anonymous survey for students and a pre‐ and post‐anonymous workshop survey for academics with a mix of Likert‐scale questions and open text boxes. Qualitative data were open coded, both deductively and inductively, and quantitative data were analysed descriptively. Results One hundred and seventeen students attended the voluntary education seminar. Six themes were identified from student qualitative data which included feeling safe, empowered, inspired, connected, emotional and reflective. Problematic aspects of pedagogy and curricula were identified by students and included: using personal data for teaching, demonising language to describe food/bodies and not always feeling safe or supported to discuss disordered eating. Twenty academics shared divergent perspectives—some reported feeling concerned and challenged by the content (exploring disordered eating with students), others noted the complexity of the area, and others reported low/moderate confidence or indifference in the space and felt this content outside of their scope as educators. Conclusion Curricula interventions that reduce triggering and shaming and increase space and support for strengthening students' relationships with food and their bodies are valued by nutrition and dietetics students. We encourage academics to consider pedagogical approaches and expand discourse in this space.

Aim Objective structured clinical examinations have long been used in dietetics education. This observational study aims to describe the development, deployment, feasibility and validity of assessment using an oral interview in place of traditional objective structured clinical examinations, and to determine the ability of this assessment to identify students who are either not ready for placement or may require early support and/or remediation. Methods Student assessment data were collected over a two‐and‐a‐half‐year period and used to test the predictive ability of an oral interview to determine dietetic placement outcomes and highlight a need for early remediation. Descriptive statistics as well as a between‐group one‐way ANOVA was used to describe results. Results A total of 169 students participated in the oral interview and subsequent medical nutrition therapy placement over the study period. Significant differences in oral interview score were seen between students who passed placement and students who passed with remediation or those who failed. Oral interview performance was able to predict placement outcome, yet required less resources than traditional objective structured clinical examinations. Conclusion An oral interview may provide the same utility as the objective structured clinical examination in dietetics education .