I am just trying to find information on what kind of school or classes do I need to take to become a Nutrionalist.

There are many schools where you can study Nutrition. You have to decide whether are looking for traditional resident study but there are many alternative schools that provide excellent programs over the internet. These cost less and in my opinion will provide you with a more up to date curriculum. It has been my experience that traditional colleges that provide programs in the field of nutrition have programs that have not kept up with advances in nutritional research. Choose wisely when picking a school to attend. My reccommendation the The Clayton School of Natural Health. I have found their various curriculims to be very complete and well designed. You will discover that nutriton, proper cellular hydration and exercise is the best prevention for disease and that in fact can be used to assist people in healing themselves.

It also depends on whether you want to be a Registered Dietitian or Nutritionist. Registered Dietitians must go through a Science degree from a accredited university and complete an accredited internship program which usually last approx. one year. You will not be able to become a dietitian online. You might be able to become a nutritionist, but it is not as reputable, as hospitals, health care centres, etc all hire RDs.

Hope this helps!

i am a registered dietitian, and this above statement is true except for one thing: "nutritionalist" is not a word. nutritionist is, but to echo the above statement, your pet hamster can become a nutritionist. it means nothing in the world of nutrition science.

Runnergirl,

I am also an RD (Canada). Be careful about posting your credentials on the Diet & Nutrition forum and providing advice based on your credentials. RDs are not allowed to give nutritional/diet advice over the internet, it is illegal and is not allowed on this board.

Just a heads up. I did the same thing when I first came on and someone let me know so I wouldn't get banned.

Thanks for the heads-up. Where have you found that it is illegal to give nutrition advice over the internet? In reading the American Dietetic Association code of ethics, I have not found any sort of guideline stating that. Are the guidelines different since you are based in Canada, perhaps? I'd be curious to know more about this. Thanks!

RDs are not allowed to give nutritional/diet advice over the internet, it is illegal and is not allowed on this board.

Healthboards.com is not a professional advice forum, as per the posting rules. Members may not identify themselves as past, present or future healthcare professionals except on this Healthcare Professionals board. This policy has nothing to do with any law or code of ethics. The policy is simply our choice for our website to be a peer support community.

Thanks Mod2. That clarifies the issue. I made the same mistake when I joined, but quickly understood why there is such a rule.

Runnergirl,
The Canadian Dietetic Act (1991) states that you must fully assess a patient (anthropometrics, biochemical, medical and social history, etc) before you may develop a nutrition care plan and provide advice to a patient/client. It is impossible to do a full nutritional assessment over a board such as this. I am not sure if *** has the same rules, but I imagine they would prefer that you assess a client prior to providing professional advice. I respond to questions on the Diet & Nutrition board, but I do not represent myself as an RD.

I hope this helps.

Yes, that does help. Thank you much. I wouldn't want to specificy counsel a person over the internet anyway - I can be doing this in private practice for a financial compensation, of course!

In speaking with other collegues who are also RDs and members of the American Dietetic Association (like me), and after calling the American Dietetic Association headquarters, I found out that giving general advice over the internet is actually NOT illegal here in America (sounds like the rules are more strict in Canada), and would be not be much different than posting a website of my own with nutrition advice. The key word is general - so meaning without the attempt or intention of assessing or giving a nutrition care plan to an individual. For example, posting the opinion "whole grains are better than refined grains" is not considered a nutrition care plan as is not illegal for a RD to post.

Nonetheless, I will not identify myself as RD to comply with rules of this website.

That makes sense. The rules are pretty strict here in Canada. I have a huge binder of Dietetics Act 1991, Code of Ethics.

So what kind of dietetics do you do? Where do you work? I am actually a dual citizen of the US (father is American) and have often thought of coming there to work, but I think that dietetics is pretty different in both countries.

I have been an RD for 2 years. I am the only dietitian at a large psychiatric hospital and provincial jail. I do a lot of weight management, diabetes education, HIV, and Hep C. I love my job as an RD, but am applying to MedSchool this fall.

Hello -

Just like you, I work as an inpatient RD. I work for the Federal Government, for a military/veteran hospital. I work mainly with patients for weight management/obesity, diabetes, dialysis, tubefeeders, dysphagia, and malnutrition. I guess I see it all in a sense since I cover a general medicine team, a geriatric rehab ward, and an intermediate medicine ward!

Congrats on your decision to go for Medical School; your dietetics training will be so valuable. Will you be applying to medical schools only in Canada or in America too?

Yeah sounds like our jobs are similar. I also have a Geriatric Rehab ward under my care.

I plan to only apply to schools in Ontario for the moment. We will see what happens after that!