Personal Development for Smart People^TM Forums

smilingaway · 10-24-2011, 06:31 PM

I got my degree in psychology but I would really like to be a nutritionist. Psychology and food both interest me but counseling people with mental health problems is too draining. Counseling people to eat healthy is fun.

How can I pursue my career with nutrition? I tried googling it but it sounds like I need a 4year degree in nutrition?

Any suggestions?

tamrajo · 10-24-2011, 07:30 PM

Yep. I have a degree in Food Science. Not quite the same, but a lot of the same classes. What a lot of people do is become a registered dietitian (RD). It is a 4-year degree, with usually a yearlong internship type thing. There are several Universities that offer the program online if you don’t have one in your area, and you can probably work out the internship thing as well. You can get a nutrition degree, but I don’t think it has the same clout as a RD.

CoolBee · 10-24-2011, 08:37 PM

I looked into this several years ago in the UK.

What I discovered was you have to be very clear about what precisely you want to be able to do because there are many nutrition qualifications out there that you can do - online, distance learning, in local colleges/schools, but very very few of them actually help you have a nutrition career in any sort of public sector or hospital (in the UK anyway!) and it was pretty well what tamrojo says.

If you are wanting to counsel healthy eating, maybe you don't need the 4 year degree but I think it would be vital to check out your professional public liability insurance cover and what that would demand in the event you counsel someone to eat, say, a high fibre diet and nearly kill them because they have coeliacs disease or something!

smilingaway · 10-24-2011, 08:45 PM

thanks! I am hoping to get something in that field. Its hard to find a job nowadays.

Clint Cora · 10-25-2011, 05:48 PM

If you want to be in a career that you know for sure is where you are passionate for the rest of your working years, what's another four years of education? Look at the number of years many other professional have to train for. If a RD designation is the way to go and is the most respected level, why not work towards it? If you are hesitant about the number of years you would still have to put in, I would really question how serious you would be in the field.

10-24-2011, 06:31 PM	#1 (permalink)
smilingaway Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 184	Suggestions to become a nutritionist? I got my degree in psychology but I would really like to be a nutritionist. Psychology and food both interest me but counseling people with mental health problems is too draining. Counseling people to eat healthy is fun. How can I pursue my career with nutrition? I tried googling it but it sounds like I need a 4year degree in nutrition? Any suggestions?

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10-24-2011, 07:30 PM	#2 (permalink)
tamrajo Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 15	Yep. I have a degree in Food Science. Not quite the same, but a lot of the same classes. What a lot of people do is become a registered dietitian (RD). It is a 4-year degree, with usually a yearlong internship type thing. There are several Universities that offer the program online if you don’t have one in your area, and you can probably work out the internship thing as well. You can get a nutrition degree, but I don’t think it has the same clout as a RD.

10-24-2011, 08:37 PM	#3 (permalink)
CoolBee Family Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 2,044	I looked into this several years ago in the UK. What I discovered was you have to be very clear about what precisely you want to be able to do because there are many nutrition qualifications out there that you can do - online, distance learning, in local colleges/schools, but very very few of them actually help you have a nutrition career in any sort of public sector or hospital (in the UK anyway!) and it was pretty well what tamrojo says. If you are wanting to counsel healthy eating, maybe you don't need the 4 year degree but I think it would be vital to check out your professional public liability insurance cover and what that would demand in the event you counsel someone to eat, say, a high fibre diet and nearly kill them because they have coeliacs disease or something!

10-24-2011, 08:45 PM	#4 (permalink)
smilingaway Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 184	thanks! I am hoping to get something in that field. Its hard to find a job nowadays.

10-25-2011, 05:48 PM	#5 (permalink)
Clint Cora Family Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Mississauga, On Canada Posts: 1,502	If you want to be in a career that you know for sure is where you are passionate for the rest of your working years, what's another four years of education? Look at the number of years many other professional have to train for. If a RD designation is the way to go and is the most respected level, why not work towards it? If you are hesitant about the number of years you would still have to put in, I would really question how serious you would be in the field.

Personal Development for Smart PeopleTM Forums

Personal Development for Smart People^TM Forums