Medical Certification Programme | Nutrition Network

2026 cohort now open for applications · Maximum 12 places · One cohort per year

Level 5 · The Metabolic Practitioner Pathway

The Live Medical Certification Program

A 16-week clinical intensive for medical professionals, taught live by Prof Tim Noakes and the Nutrition Network medical faculty. Small cohort. Personal tutor. Examined by oral examination.

Graduate as a Nutrition Network Practitioner - Certified in Metabolic Healthcare

27 August 2026Next cohort begins

16 weeksLive clinical intensive

12 placesMaximum cohort size

By applicationReviewed individually

Apply for August 2026

Sound familiar?

Metabolic disease fills your consulting room. The training to reverse it was never offered.

Medicated, not better

Most of your patients live with obesity, type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome. The prescriptions manage the numbers while the disease keeps progressing, and you're left treating the downstream consequences.

Papers aren't practice

You've read the evidence on therapeutic carbohydrate restriction. But reading research is not clinical training, and nobody taught this at medical school. You want supervision, structure and examination.

Patients are already asking

Low-carb and keto come up in your consultations every week. Answering with real clinical confidence, including de-prescribing safely, takes more than a weekend webinar.

The gap is widening

A small group of clinicians already practise this way and get outcomes their colleagues can't explain. This programme runs once a year. Every year you wait, that gap grows.

Why this programme exists

The evidence has been building for decades. The clinical training hadn't.

We built this programme because practitioners kept telling us the same thing: they could see metabolic disease everywhere in their practice, they could see the evidence for therapeutic carbohydrate restriction, and they had nowhere to get rigorous, examinable, clinician-led training in how to apply it.

This is that training. Taught live by Prof Tim Noakes, Dr Neville Wellington, Dr Hassina Kajee, Bitten Jonsson RN and expert faculty. Clinical from the first session, and built entirely around what you can actually do with a patient in front of you.

What makes this different

A designation you earn. Not a certificate of attendance.

Taught live, not recorded

Each fortnight pairs pre-reading with a live session led by the lecturer. You question the faculty directly, in real time.

12 practitioners, not 12,000

Every application is reviewed individually and each participant is matched with a dedicated personal tutor. The programme only works at this scale, deliberately.

Examined, not attended

A 45-minute individual oral examination carries 50% of your final mark, with examiners drawn from the NN Medical Advisory Board and matched to your profession.

A formal designation

Graduates earn the designation Nutrition Network Practitioner - Certified in Metabolic Healthcare, and are listed as Certified Practitioners on the Nutrition Network website.

“

“Completing this programme has been the most exhilarating and transformative learning experience of my entire career, surpassing even my years of education at Wellesley, Johns Hopkins, and Harvard Medical School, and my time teaching at Harvard and Yale.”

Dr Lori Calabrese MD Psychiatrist, USA Programme graduate

Your credential

What you graduate with

Designation on completion

Nutrition Network PractitionerCertified in Metabolic Healthcare

An examined clinical designation, awarded only after passing the full assessment including your individual oral examination
Listed as a Certified Practitioner on the Nutrition Network website, where patients and colleagues can find you
Backed by the Nutrition Network faculty and Medical Advisory Board, founded by The Noakes Foundation

Curriculum

Six weeks of clinical immersion. Then you demonstrate mastery.

Week01

Diabetes Management

Causes of obesity and diabetes. Insulin physiology. Kraft insulin responses. Ketones and healthy ranges. Glucose monitoring and de-prescribing on LCHF.

Dr Neville WellingtonGP & Diabetologist, NN Medical Director
Week02

Metabolic Syndrome

Insulin receptor biology. Adipose tissue inflammation. Pathophysiology of insulin resistance. Integrative management. Therapeutic ketogenic applications and troubleshooting.

Dr Hassina KajeeSpecialist Physician, NN Medical Director
Week03

Key Coaching Skills

Applying coaching in clinical settings. Supporting lasting lifestyle change. Scope of practice. Collaboration with medical teams and real-world case studies.

Faranak AminiNNP, MHP, Metabolic Health Practitioner
Week04

Lipidology

Causation in nutrition research. Familial hypercholesterolaemia. Statins and insulin resistance. Cardiovascular risk on a low-carbohydrate diet.

Prof Tim NoakesEmeritus Professor, UCT
Week05

Nutritional Aspects of TCR

Formulating and monitoring carbohydrate-restricted diets. Adapting TCR for autoimmune, GIT, cancer, Alzheimer's and T2D. Contraindications. PUFA, ultra-processed food and gut health.

Nutrition NetworkFaculty lecture
Week06

Food Addiction & Behavioural Skills

Neuroscience of addiction. Screening tools for food addiction. Supporting food-addicted patients in clinical practice. When and how to refer to an addiction specialist.

Bitten Jonsson RNRegistered Nurse, Addiction Specialist

Then: a two-week study break and final assignment, followed by your individual oral examination. Total live contact time is 14.5 hours, and the oral examination accounts for 50% of final marks.

How it works

Rigorous by design.

Cohort size

Maximum 12 participants. Every application is reviewed individually. This is deliberate: the programme only works at this scale.

Personal tutor

Every participant is matched with a dedicated tutor. Time zones are considered.

Fortnightly rhythm

Each two-week block includes pre-reading, a live session with the lecturer, and weekly work submission via a dedicated platform.

Oral examination

45-minute individual oral exam. Examiners are matched by profession and drawn from the NN Medical Advisory Board and faculty.

AI usage policy

The programme has a formal AI usage policy. AI may support your learning. It may not generate your submitted work. Academic integrity is taken seriously.

Graduation

Graduates earn the designation Nutrition Network Practitioner - Certified in Metabolic Healthcare and are listed as Certified Practitioners on the Nutrition Network website.

Assessment

An assessment that reflects the depth of the programme.

Oral Examination

45-minute individual slot. Examiners matched by profession.

50%
Final Assignment

Submitted at the end of the two-week study break.

20%
Participation & Engagement

Live sessions and online platform. Marked by the lecturer.

10%
Weekly Work

One set of questions per week, submitted via platform.

10%
MCQ Exam

Released pre-programme. Completed within one week.

10%

Faculty

The people you will learn from.

TN

Prof Tim Noakes

Emeritus Professor, University of Cape Town. Author of Lore of Nutrition. Pioneer in low-carbohydrate science and research methodology.

NW

Dr Neville Wellington

GP and Diabetologist. Nutrition Network Medical Director. Leads Week 1 on diabetes management and de-prescribing.

HK

Dr Hassina Kajee

Specialist Physician. Nutrition Network Medical Director. Leads Week 2 on metabolic syndrome and integrative management.

BJ

Bitten Jonsson RN

Registered Nurse and Addiction Specialist. ADDIS/SUGAR-authorised. Leads Week 6 on food addiction and behavioural skills.

FA

Faranak Amini

Certified Nutrition and Metabolic Health Practitioner. 15+ years in LCHF/Keto clinical practice. Leads the coaching skills week.

From a graduate

“Nothing has revolutionised my clinical approach more than truly understanding metabolism and its direct connection to mental health. This journey has changed me as a physician, a wife, a mother, a teacher, and a lifelong learner. The depth of knowledge, paradigm-shifting insights, and electrifying conversations within this programme have profoundly reshaped the way I think, practise, and help people heal.”

“The community we have built, rich with shared experiences, challenges, and support, is as valuable as the certification itself.”

Dr Lori Calabrese MD Psychiatrist, USA · Programme graduate

2026 programme dates

The 2026 cohort runs August to December.

MCQ exam released
17 August 2026
Orientation (Zoom)
20 August 2026
Programme begins with the Week 1 live session
27 August 2026
Week 6 live Q&A with Bitten Jonsson
5 November 2026
Study break begins
6 November 2026
Final assignments due
25 November 2026
Individual oral examinations
10 & 11 December 2026
Graduation
Date to be confirmed

Investment

One fee. Everything included.

$4,400

Full 16-week programme fee, USD

Email your application enquiry

support@nutrition-network.org

Applications are reviewed individually. Graduates earn the designation Nutrition Network Practitioner - Certified in Metabolic Healthcare.

Who this is for

Medical doctors and specialists
Registered dietitians and clinical nutritionists
Advanced practice nurses and physician assistants
Pharmacists with clinical practice
Allied health professionals with a clinical caseload

Questions

Everything you need to decide.

The programme is designed for medical doctors and specialists, registered dietitians and clinical nutritionists, advanced practice nurses and physician assistants, pharmacists with clinical practice, and allied health professionals with a clinical caseload. Every application is reviewed individually.

The programme runs on a fortnightly rhythm. Each two-week block includes pre-reading, one live session with the lecturer, and a weekly work submission via a dedicated platform. Total live contact time across the programme is 14.5 hours, so it is built to fit around a working clinical schedule.

Graduates earn the designation Nutrition Network Practitioner - Certified in Metabolic Healthcare, and are listed as Certified Practitioners on the Nutrition Network website. The designation is awarded only after passing the full assessment, including the individual oral examination.

Five components: a 45-minute individual oral examination (50%), a final assignment (20%), participation and engagement (10%), weekly work (10%), and an MCQ exam released before the programme begins (10%). Oral examiners are drawn from the NN Medical Advisory Board and faculty, and matched to your profession.