Claude Project: Your Persistent Specialty Nutrition Assistant

What This Builds

A persistent, specialty-calibrated AI assistant that already knows your practice area, preferred clinical formats, and patient population. Every conversation starts from a fully informed baseline without requiring you to re-explain your context from scratch. A renal dietitian's Claude Project knows KDOQI guidelines and your preferred ADIME format. A diabetes educator's Project knows ADA standards and your preferred counseling approach. Every note draft, patient question response, and education handout automatically reflects your specialty's standards.

Prerequisites

• Claude Pro subscription ({{tool:Claude.price}}). Projects require a paid account
• Comfortable using Claude for basic note drafting and handout generation (Level 3)
• 1-2 hours to build and test your Project
• Key clinical guidelines for your specialty area (you'll upload these or summarize them in the system prompt)

The Concept

A Claude Project is like having an AI assistant who has already completed your onboarding. You set it up once with detailed instructions (your specialty, your patient population, your preferred formats, your clinical standards) and every conversation in that Project starts from that foundation.

Think of it this way: every time you open a regular Claude conversation, you're starting with an assistant who knows nothing about you. With a Claude Project, you're opening a conversation with an assistant who already knows you're a renal dietitian, already knows KDOQI protein targets, already knows your ADIME format preferences, and already has your common patient scenarios in mind.

Build It Step by Step

Part 1: Create the Project

1. Log into claude.ai with your Claude Pro account
2. In the left sidebar, look for Projects and click New Project
3. Give your Project a descriptive name: "Renal Dietitian Assistant" or "Diabetes MNT Practice" or "Clinical Nutrition [Your Name]"
4. You'll see a Project Instructions field. This is the system prompt that loads with every conversation in this Project

Part 2: Write Your Project Instructions

This is the most important step. Copy and customize the following template for your specialty:

For a Renal Dietitian:

You are a clinical nutrition AI assistant for a registered dietitian specializing in renal nutrition.

SPECIALTY CONTEXT:
- Patient population: Adults with CKD stages 3-5, dialysis patients (HD and PD), post-transplant patients
- Primary conditions: CKD, ESRD, proteinuria, hyperkalemia, hyperphosphatemia, volume overload
- Primary employer setting: Outpatient nephrology clinic and dialysis unit

CLINICAL GUIDELINES IN USE:
- NKF KDOQI Nutrition in CKD 2020 Update (primary guideline)
- KDIGO CKD Management Guidelines
- Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Evidence Analysis Library — CKD
- Protein targets: CKD non-dialysis 0.6-0.8g/kg/day; Hemodialysis 1.1-1.2g/kg/day
- Potassium restriction: typically <2000-2500mg/day depending on labs
- Phosphorus: <800-1000mg/day with attention to bioavailability (plant vs. animal vs. additive)
- Fluid: per prescription, varies by residual renal function and modality

PREFERRED NOTE FORMAT: ADIME
- Assessment: Labs (K, phos, BUN, creatinine, eGFR, albumin, prealbumin, CBC), anthropometrics, diet history
- Diagnosis: PES format (Problem + Etiology + Signs/Symptoms)
- Intervention: Specific dietary recommendations with targets, education provided, supplements discussed
- Monitoring: Which labs to check, timeframe, weight monitoring parameters
- Evaluation: Progress toward previous visit goals

COMMON TASKS I WILL ASK YOU:
- Draft ADIME notes from bullet points
- Generate low-K, low-phos, renal-appropriate meal plans
- Create patient education handouts (default: 6th grade reading level unless specified)
- Write prior authorization letters for MNT sessions
- Look up drug-nutrient interactions for nephrology medications
- Summarize CKD nutrition research articles

IMPORTANT CLINICAL CAVEATS:
- Always flag when a recommendation depends on a patient's specific lab values (don't give universal potassium advice)
- Phosphorus recommendations vary significantly by food source. Distinguish additive phosphorus (highest bioavailability) from animal (moderate) and plant (lower absorption)
- All clinical output should be reviewed by the RD before use. You are a drafting assistant, not a clinical decision-maker

For a Diabetes Educator Dietitian:

You are a clinical nutrition AI assistant for a registered dietitian and certified diabetes care and education specialist.

SPECIALTY CONTEXT:
- Patient population: Adults and adolescents with T1DM, T2DM, prediabetes, gestational diabetes
- Common co-morbidities: Obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, NAFLD, CKD
- Primary employer setting: Outpatient diabetes education program and endocrinology practice
- Certification: CDCES (Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist)

CLINICAL GUIDELINES IN USE:
- ADA Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes (current year)
- ADA/EASD 2023 Consensus Report on Nutrition for Adults with Diabetes
- CDC National Diabetes Prevention Program (for prediabetes)
- Carbohydrate targets: Individualized; typical 45-60g per meal for T2DM
- A1c targets: Generally <7% for most adults; individualized per ADA staging

PREFERRED NOTE FORMAT: ADIME (same fields as above, adapt for diabetes)

COMMON TASKS:
- ADIME notes for diabetes education visits
- Carb-consistent and carb-counting meal plans
- Patient education handouts on carb counting, meal timing, label reading, GLP-1 medication support
- Prior auth letters for MNT (T2DM, T1DM)
- Research summaries on GLP-1 pharmacotherapy nutrition implications, continuous glucose monitoring, ultra-processed food research
- Social media content for diabetes education outreach

Part 3: Add Knowledge Documents (Optional but Powerful)

At the bottom of the Project settings, you can upload documents that Claude will reference. Consider uploading:

• A PDF of your specialty's key clinical guideline (or the key nutrition section)
• Your clinic's standard diet order forms or therapeutic diet specifications
• A list of your most common patient scenarios or case types
• A sample of your ideal ADIME note (anonymized) so Claude learns your voice

To upload: Click Add content or the document icon in the Project knowledge section. Supported formats: PDF, text files, Word docs.

Part 4: Test and Refine

Open your first conversation within the Project (click the Project name, then New conversation). Test with real scenarios:

1. Test note drafting: Paste some bullet points from a recent patient visit and ask for an ADIME note. Does it match your format? Does it use appropriate renal or diabetes language?

2. Test meal plan generation: Ask for a 7-day renal diet meal plan for a patient with specific lab values. Does it apply KDOQI targets correctly?

3. Test patient education: Ask for a low-potassium diet handout. Is the language appropriate? Are the restrictions correct for your patient population?

After each test, go back to Project Instructions and add corrections: "When drafting ADIME notes, always include the patient's estimated protein intake in the Assessment section" or "Meal plans should always include both potassium and phosphorus content per meal."

Real Example: Renal Dietitian Practice

Setup: Sarah is a renal RD at a nephrology practice. She created a Claude Project called "Renal Practice (Sarah)" with the system prompt above plus uploaded KDOQI 2020 key tables as a PDF.

Typical Monday morning: 12 patient visits scheduled, starting with a stage 4 CKD patient who had a hyperkalemia hospitalization last month.

Input (Sarah's session notes):

67M CKD stage 4, post-AKI hospitalization for K 6.8, now K 5.6 at today's visit.
eGFR 22, Phos 4.9 (slightly elevated), Alb 3.6, wt stable at 195 lbs.
Dietary recall: eating 2 bananas/day, tomato soup, canned beans.
Education: reviewed complete low-K food list, leaching for potatoes.
Patient agreed to switch to apple juice, limit beans to 1/4 cup leached.
Plan: restrict K to <1800mg/day. Recheck BMP in 4 weeks. Phos ok for now, monitor.

Output (Claude's ADIME note draft): A complete ADIME note with PES statement ("Excessive mineral intake related to inadequate nutrition knowledge as evidenced by serum potassium 5.6 mEq/L and self-reported intake of high-potassium foods exceeding 1800mg/day"), specific intervention details, and a monitoring plan referencing the 4-week lab recheck.

Time saved: 15 minutes of charting → 3 minutes of review and editing.

What to Do When It Breaks

• Project Instructions are too long → Claude may not apply all guidelines. Prioritize the most critical elements; put less critical information in knowledge documents.
• Output doesn't match my specialty → Add a specific example of ideal output at the end of your Project Instructions: "Here is an example of a well-formatted note I would write: [paste example]"
• Claude ignores uploaded documents → Reference them explicitly: "Using the KDOQI guidelines I've shared, what are the protein targets for hemodialysis patients?"
• Output is too generic → Your Project Instructions may need more specificity. Add your exact patient population demographics, typical lab ranges, and common medication classes.

Variations

• Simpler version: Skip uploaded documents and just use the system prompt. This alone dramatically improves consistency.
• Extended version: Create separate Projects for different patient populations: one for CKD outpatient, one for dialysis, one for transplant post-op. Each optimized for its specific context.

What to Do Next

• This week: Build your Project, run 5 test conversations, refine the instructions based on what doesn't work.
• This month: Use the Project for all your AI-assisted charting and education creation. Note where it excels and where it needs more instruction.
• Advanced: Create a "Teaching Cases" document in the Project Knowledge: a collection of anonymized complex cases you've managed well, so Claude can draw on your best clinical thinking when drafting recommendations.

Advanced guide for dietitian professionals. Claude Projects require a paid {{tool:Claude.plan}} subscription. All clinical output should be reviewed by a licensed RD before use.