Hi,
I am looking to enter the field of health/medicine and want to become a dietitian/nutritionist. I’ll be attending the University of Maryland, College Park in the fall, am a Banneker Key Scholar, and will be participating in the Gemstone Program.
Currently I want to double major (it is possible with Gemstone) in Psychology and either Chem, Biochem, or Biology: Physiology and Neurology (a specialization of Bio at UMD). I’m leaning more towards the latter two because, although I was initially going to be a Chem major, it doesn’t fit very well with what I want to do. Plus, I am required to take some Chem classes as lower level requirements for BChem and BioPN.
In order to become a dietitian, I would need to complete DPD (Didactic Program in Dietetics) coursework accredited by the ACEND (Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics) which would lead to a major in Dietetics. However becoming a nutritionist does not require completing this course (though obtaining an M.S is highly recommended).* However, I am most interested in becoming a dietitian.
My biggest stress is trying to figure out what to have as a second major. First, I am definitely planning on majoring in Psychology- I think it’s such a fascinating subject and there are so many ways in which you can use various parts of psychology in my intended career. I am very interested in the brain and human body, which is something that draws me towards the BioPN major, as well as becoming a deit/nut being more biological. However, there is also the option of majoring in BChem which combines both bio and chem but, I believe, leans more heavily on the chem side.
I was also thinking about trying to take two majors and complete the DPD program, which doesn’t seem feasible in four years (and some summer classes) and might lead me into an extra year in college. This isn’t that bad, since I have the Banneker Key scholarship (which covers everything), but… idk.
A few questions: In there any major that would be better/worse for the field I want to go into? If you are a dietitian/nutritionist, what did you major in; and does it even matter at the end of the day, once you’ve completed an internship or taken you exams, etc?
I’m not sure if I’m stressing myself out too much, and if all of this even matters because I will most likely end up learning all of these topics in some way or another.
*http://daa.asn.au/universities-recognition/dietetics-in-australia/distinction-between-dietitian-and-nutritionist/
This is short summary of the difference:
“In Australia there is a distinction made between dietitians and other occupations in the nutrition and food science field, including that of nutritionist.
The key difference between a dietitian and a nutritionist is that, in addition to or as part of their qualification in human nutrition, a dietitian has undertaken a course of study that included substantial theory and supervised and assessed professional practice in clinical nutrition, medical nutrition therapy and food service management.
Therefore, in Australia, all dietitians are considered to be nutritionists however, nutritionists without a dietetics qualification cannot take on the specialised role of a dietitian.”
Also: http://www.diffen.com/difference/Dietitian_vs_Nutritionist