I am currently a sophomore dietetics/nutrition major and chemistry minor at a small liberal arts school. My original plan was to become a registered dietitian and then apply to a master’s program in nutrition to do research. I am taking General Chemistry II this semester for my minor and am doing very well so far. My professor is shocked that I want to stay in dietetics even though I am doing well handling advanced science courses (beyond what a dietetics/pre-nursing student would take). I have considered going to medical school, but I am reluctant towards devoting at least 7-8 years of my time to medical school/residency after undergrad. While nutrition and metabolism are my biggest interests right now, I’m afraid that I’m limiting myself by staying with the dietetics major. If I want to conduct clinical nutrition studies, would pursuing an MD/PhD program give me better job prospects, or would it be fine for me to continue in the RD program?
when you say conduct do you mean lead or contribute? If you mean lead, an MS is not sufficient - there is almost no nutrition education in medical school though so I would advise PhD over MD/PhD though (and if you’re reluctant to spend 7-8 years for med school/residency, why are you ok with doing 7-9 years for MD/PhD + residency or post doc). If you simply want to be a contributing member of a research team an MS is sufficient.
@lovesbubbles74 take a look at where research is done, you can see what degrees various researchers have, reach out to them for advice
here is federal resource
http://www.niddk.nih.gov/research-funding/research-programs/Pages/clinical-epidemiological-nutrition-research-program.aspx