<p>I am about to register for classes for my second quarter and I want to take electives that will count toward a minor except I'm not sure which minor is a good complement to my major of Clinical Nutrition. I am aiming to become an RD. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>A minor doesn’t necessarily have to be related to your major—you can follow your interests and/or broaden your background. </p>
<p>However, here are some minors that might complement your major (depending on your particular interests, future career plans, and what minors are offered by your particular university):
Spanish (if you might end up working with many Hispanic patients)
Business and/or Health Administration
Heath Education
Communications (especially if you can take coursework in health communication or just to develop your professional skills as a communicator)
Psychology (especially if you can take some coursework in applied behavior analysis, counseling, eating disorders, obesity)
Human Development (lifespan, but gerontology could be a focus, too; would draw on courses in psychology, anthropology, sociology, human ecology, etc.)
Microbiology/Toxicology
Food Science
International Agriculture/Global Health/International Relations (if you have an interest in development, etc.)
Cultural Anthropology (if you can take coursework in foods & culture, medical anthropology—for an interest in international development/health or if you might work with ethnic groups whose cultural food practices interact with clinical health issues)
Sociology (if you can take coursework on medical sociology)
Developmental Disabilities (if you have any interest in things like PKU, Prader-Willi, Autism, dietary interventions for persons with DD (food refusal, food selectivity, dysphagia, etc), etc.; would probably have to draw on courses in psychology, special ed)
Public Health (biostatistics, epidemiology, health policy & economics, etc.)
Exercise Science/Physiology/Kinesiology/Sports Science (if you have an interest in wellness, sports nutrition, or possibly, lifestyle modification & chronic diseases, e.g., CHD)
Technical Writing/Journalism/Science Communication (if you had any interest in writing about nutrition and health)
Speech Science/Communication Disorders (if you had any interest in swallowing disorders, dysphagia, etc.)
Biomedical Ethics (drawing on courses in philosophy, religion)
Biology (Biochemistry, Physiology, Human Genetics, Cell Biology, etc.—you already would take some coursework in these areas for your major, but if you had any interest in research and/or graduate study this would enhance your background)
If you attend a landgrant university, you also might find relevant courses on community development/rural sociology, poverty, food policy & economics, sustainable agriculture, etc. that touch on issues of food supply, nutrition, health, etc. These might be in several departments—consumer economics (in home ec/human ecology), ag economics, rural sociology, etc.</p>