Parkash Dhindsa is a specialist diabetes dietitian working at the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust with a special interest in the management of obesity in patients with diabetes. She gained a BSc (Hons) degree from King’s College London and has worked in the NHS for more than 40 years.
In 1995, she was awarded a PhD from the University of Nottingham for a programme of research that included investigating the acceptability, feasibility and benefits of meal replacements to provide low-energy diets in obese patients with type 2 diabetes and symptomatic hyperglycaemia. The results, presented at the Diabetes UK conference in 2001 and published in Diabetic Medicine in 2003, showed significant metabolic benefits, with reductions in both body mass index and total cholesterol levels with residual benefits still being apparent after one year.
Dr Dhindsa has a long-standing interest in education, both for health professionals and patients and their families. She has held a number of educational roles at the University of Nottingham, including as a clinical tutor in the Graduate Entry Medical School where she trained as a problem-based learning facilitator and was part of the team that established a four-year Graduate Entry Medical Programme. She has also worked as a teacher practitioner in the School of Nutrition and Dietetics, led small group teaching sessions and contributed to assessment writing programmes.
She is the lead Dose Adjustment For Normal Eating (DAFNE) educator for Derby and Burton Hospitals University Trust and has recently been part of a team developing a programme of masterclasses in the management of diabetes for primary care staff across Derbyshire.
Duality of Interest: None declared
Date: Summer 2023