Clinical nutrition is the practice of analyzing whether a person is consuming an adequate amount of nutrients for good health. A clinical nutritionist is concerned about how the body processes, stores, and discards nutrients from food, along with how what you eat affects your overall well-being. Professionals in this field assess your nutritional needs based on your medical and family history, lifestyle, and laboratory tests to make recommendations about your diet and your individual nutritional needs. A clinical nutritionist can advise you on dietary changes that can help prevent diseases.
Becoming a dietitian starts with a Bachelor of Science degree or more specialized nutrition courses. After earning a college degree, you must be paired with a competitive internship program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Nutrition and Dietetics Education (ACEND). These internships usually last between 900 and 1200 hours and focus on different types of dietary studies. At the end of the internship, you would take an exit exam and, once approved, you would finally be eligible to take the registration exam for dietitians.
Once this exam is successfully completed, you will be a legal dietitian. Students in the Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services specialty often have strong analytical and critical thinking skills. They should look at patients' nutritional needs and create dietary plans to help patients receive all the nutrition they need to stay healthy or achieve a certain goal. Strong interpersonal and communication skills allow students to work closely with others to help them cope with dietary problems.
See the chart below to get an idea of the grade level most people have in dietetics and clinical nutrition services careers. Clinical nutrition involves studying what nutrients are needed for the body to function and how what you eat affects your health. This program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Nutrition and Dietetics Education (ACEND) of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. You can also open your own clinic and provide nutrition advice and analysis to patients of any age and health status.
In addition, they must complete a 56-hour online clinical nutrition training program offered through the board. Specialists in Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services work with patients to monitor health and diet needs and help them achieve their goals. There are 226 schools offering degrees in dietetics and clinical nutrition services in the United States. The following options are some of the most in-demand careers related to dietetics and clinical nutrition services.
Work in hospitals or other clinical settings, public health, government-funded nutrition programs, food companies, and the private sector. Some specialists in Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services work for medical services in hospitals, nursing homes, or clinics, while other professionals are self-employed. Includes instruction in human nutrition; nutrient metabolism; the role of food and nutrition in health promotion and disease prevention; planning and direction of food service activities; analysis and planning of diet and nutrition; supervision of food storage and preparation; customer education; and rules and regulations. Applied clinical nutrition can be completed in as little as two years and fully online when completed at Northeast College of Health Sciences.
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services is one of 30 different types of health profession programs to choose from. The required and elective courses you would take for specializations in Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services vary considerably between institutions. .
