- Dietitian - requires a one year internship and registration with regulatory bodies. Dietitians can work in hospitals, long-term care places, government (e.g. Health Canada), community care settings, public health agencies, and/or open their own practices.
- Nutrition research - including biochemical research and other science-based stuff. Also includes research into improving practices, e.g. improving cost efficiency in clinical settings to enhance patient care.
- Nutrition communication and education- includes those dietitians/nutrition people that you see on TV, newspapers and books giving info about nutrition research. They're responsible for relaying the information that the smart food science people find in a way that is accessible for the public to understand and use in their daily lives. Education includes people like your home economics teacher, and my profs, who teach people like me how to be smart nutrition folks :)
- Food service and product development - includes the people who figure out how to make non-fat versions of things that should have lots of fat, how to get omega 3 into eggs, and other nutraceutical products. May also be involved in marketing and promotion, communications, packaging, etc. Food service management positions are also included, such as overseeing foodservice production, managing operations and sanitation practices.
- Many more!
With so many choices and pathways to look into, it's hard to know where to start! Thanks to the courses I've taken so far at school, I've narrowed it down to a few options having figured out what I know I don't want to do for the rest of my life. For example, having worked in business and marketing for a while already, I'm pretty confident that working in an office cubicle is really not for me. I would, however, be interested in running my own practice. Thus, still using my business background but getting use of my nutrition education too! I'm also not so hot on the hardcore sciences, so I'm pretty sure that going into chemical research is not going to work out so well. Research into other areas that don't involve laboratories, though, is an area that really interests me (e.g. how nutrients affect disease management). I've also recently figured out that having a work background and interest in the social aspects of food, both domestic and international (including income and food security, socioeconomics, housing and other social determinants of health) is a really great addition to my future C.V., as the social sciences are a field of immense discovery and great opportunity for a nutrition professional!
The other day in Food Science labs, we made mayonnaise and learned how processed cheese is developed. As fun as mayo-making was, I definitely don't want to be in food production as a career option. Also, I may never eat processed cheese ever again now that I know how gross it looks while being made. Seriously, barf.
I do know that being a registered dietitian is what I want more than anything else in the world right now. Despite the extra and intense work involved in getting that designation, it's so worth it in my eyes, and it was the prospect of getting the letters "R.D." behind my name that drew me to this field in the first place. It will open infinite doors for me in the future. All my efforts are focused on this, because the internship application is equally intense and requires a ridiculously amazing academic, work and volunteer background to be deemed worthy to enter this highly competitive year of free work.
What's a girl to do with so many choices to make, and all in such a short period of time? It seems that my first year of school literally FLEW by, and it's only going to get faster!
