dietitian and med school?

[studybunny6]

Hi everyone

I have a few questions about the title above. I am in the process of preparing to go to college, undergraduate, I am interested in going to med school and becoming a surgeon (maybe a different medical doctor, if I am not interested in becoming a surgeon)

anyways.. is it possible to do the pre-med program and dietitian courses/school at the same time? Do they offer those courses at a normal university?

I would love to be a registered dietitian while in college and in med school... Once I get my MD it may not be as useful but the knowledge is still nice to have. BUT I am interested in doing this.

Thoughts? and what is the process of doing this?

please don't comment something like what's the point. I love hearing people's feedback but I also want to do something that makes me happy. Doing this before I am a doctor is something I am very interested in.

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[iBro]

Being a dietician sounds like a full time career. You cannot really have a career during medschool.

Then you have to decide if training for a career you will never really practice is worth it, assuming you go on to med school right away.

Lastly if RD is a program you have to apply to, the program may not be thrilled about accepting and training someone who will never really use their education as an RD.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[WedgeDawg]

Moving to hSDN as OP is a high school student

 

[Stagg737]

I have to disagree with iBro on this one. Here's a couple things to keep in mind about each of your points:

You have no idea that you want to be a surgeon. I'm not saying that to be discouraging, I'm just saying it because there is a huge difference between what people think each field does and what they see during shadowing vs. what those physicians actually deal with on a day to day basis. The vast majority of med students change their mind about what field they want to enter by the time they go to residency. It's sounds like you're keeping an open mind though and genuinely interested, which is what's important at this point.

It's very possible to be pre-med and do dietician courses. As long as you're fulfilling the pre-requisites for med schools, you can major in whatever you want. Plus it's better to major in something that gives you a legitimate back-up plan if med school doesn't work out for some reason. If your major is in pre-medicine, it'll be pretty useless upon graduation if you don't go straight to med school.

You could definitely be a dietician while in college. It'll probably be a little time consuming, but if you enjoy it, then it would probably be worth it. Having a job in med school is a bad idea for most people though unless it's a job where you can just sit there and study (and get paid for that). Some people find jobs that only require 5 hours a week, like tutoring, it's fine. Trying to have an actual job or career in med school...not so much.

No idea what the process of being an RD would be. That would be something to ask the colleges you're applying to.

Another thing, there's nothing from stopping you from being an RD, working for a few years after UG, then applying to med school. Sure, you'll lose a few years of physician salary, but if it's important to you and helps you decide that medicine is the right path for you, it's worth it.

 

[studybunny6]

thank you so much!! ^^ that really helps me!

 

[Go_Pokes_11]

Choose nutrition as your major and you should be set. My university includes the classes for being a dietician in the nutrition degree plan. If you do this you can complete the nutrition major with pre-med option and choose whether you still want to apply to medical school or continue on to become a dietician. However, working as a dietician while in med school would be an extremely difficult load. I would suggest picking one or the other when the time comes, but for now just concentrate on enjoying college life, making good grades, and finding out which future is best for you.

 

[Alienman52]

Hi everyone

I have a few questions about the title above. I am in the process of preparing to go to college, undergraduate, I am interested in going to med school and becoming a surgeon (maybe a different medical doctor, if I am not interested in becoming a surgeon)

anyways.. is it possible to do the pre-med program and dietitian courses/school at the same time? Do they offer those courses at a normal university?

I would love to be a registered dietitian while in college and in med school... Once I get my MD it may not be as useful but the knowledge is still nice to have. BUT I am interested in doing this.

Thoughts? and what is the process of doing this?

please don't comment something like what's the point. I love hearing people's feedback but I also want to do something that makes me happy. Doing this before I am a doctor is something I am very interested in.

You can major in anything and still complete pre-requisite courses. There are just as many humanities majors matriculating into med school as there are science majors. The humanities majors simply take their pre-reqs while still allotting themselves enough time to finish their degree in whatever else they're studying. You could surely take the pre-reqs while taking courses to become a registered dietitian, but you need to be smart and plan out your courses so that you'll still graduate with a degree on time. Speak with your college advisor about proper planning.

 

[SchuylerSister]

I am pre-med and am pursuing a minor in Nutritional Sciences. In order to become an RD you must realize that you have to earn your Bachelor's then do your DI (dietetic internship) which is a long process of filling out applications and applying to different programs which can last up to a year in length. Then after your DI you must pass the RD exam which is multiple choice standardized test similar I imagine to medical boards tests. After this you can work as an RD, but be warned that a lot of entry level RD job do require a master's degree as well. My school offers a dietetics degree that will not give you courses you need to apply to a DI but it allows you to take courses in Nutrition and allows empty spaces for you to insert classes that are needed for pre-requisites to professional schools. Several students go this route when looking at PT, OT, PA, MD/DO etc. schools.

 

[Jarteblu]

Based on OP 's posts, I think he should pursue a career as a dietitian. I think you should pursue this. You seem to be interested in it an it is a growing field with good $$$$