Originally Posted by illegallysmooth

I think the prior education you have in nutrition + what you'll learn in medical school will prepare you to counsel patients on nutrition, provided you keep up with new research. I know it won't be the case everywhere, but my school had an excellent nutrition course and I feel very capable of sitting down with a patient and creating a nutrition plan, in fact I did it for my newly-diabetic father. Even if your future school has a crap nutrition course, what you will have learned in your basic sciences courses will enable you to understand all the new research as it comes along. Your knowledge and skill in that field is going to be dependent on how much time you put into reading and practicing it. I find it hard to think of a good reason to get that RD after your name if you're going to be a physician. If you don't get into med school and want to fill up a gap year, sure. But otherwise, don't waste your valuable time.