Nutrition and Health Coaching course

Doolee

Hi there,

Im thinking of doing this, http://www.iinh.net/nutrition_and_health_coaching.htm, a 1 year nutrition and health coaching course in Bray. Theres an open day next wednesday but im not sure if I'll be finished work in time to get there before its over.

Has anyone ever done this course and what did you think? I'm looking to just get a taste of the career of nutrition and would love to help people eat better and feel better and I have a particular interest in sports nutrition which is only slightly touched upon it seems.
Would love to hear any thoughts.
Thanks a mill.
Doolee

Sapsorrow

I'd save your money and time and decide if you are serious about becoming a nutritionist or dietician and then go and get a proper accredited qualification. 12 weekends of study isn't gonna equipp you to do anything, these courses are a bit of a joke and give nutritionists in general a bad name, because people come out the other end of a part time diploma calling themselves nutritionists when they've had F-all real training and little or no scientific background and then go meddling with peoples health. Why would you do a course to get a taste of what the career entails? Go online and find nutritionists or dieticians to talk to and ask questions and do your own research. Sorry if it seems a bit harsh, I just did a 4 year degree in nutrition so I can easily see how bad these courses are and how flawed the curriculums are compared to what I had to do in mine. I'd reccomend the nutrition and dietetics degree in Dublin (UCD AFAIK) if you're really into it.

Doolee

Sapsorrow wrote: »

I'd save your money and time and decide if you are serious about becoming a nutritionist or dietician and then go and get a proper accredited qualification. 12 weekends of study isn't gonna equipp you to do anything, these courses are a bit of a joke and give nutritionists in general a bad name, because people come out the other end of a part time diploma calling themselves nutritionists when they've had F-all real training and little or no scientific background and then go meddling with peoples health. Why would you do a course to get a taste of what the career entails? Go online and find nutritionists or dieticians to talk to and ask questions and do your own research. Sorry if it seems a bit harsh, I just did a 4 year degree in nutrition so I can easily see how bad these courses are and how flawed the curriculums are compared to what I had to do in mine. I'd reccomend the nutrition and dietetics degree in Dublin (UCD AFAIK) if you're really into it.

Thanks Sapsorrow, harsh but fair I guess. Its definately nutrition im into as apposed to a dietition and as I'll be working for the next 6 months I'm trying to change my career and cant really afford to do anything full time. But of course I totally understand where youre coming from. This course actually is 3 years, as in part time so even at that you wouldnt nearly have all the knowledge you yourself would have from your degree. I'm thinking of doing a fitness course of somesort also so this would be back up to enable me to help any clients get some sort of nutrition knowledge from me.
Food for thought anyway. I thought it was an accredited course though?

Thanks for the advice.
Doolee

sabinette

Hi Dolee,

HAve you decided to enrol in Bray? I am also interested in the course but am also looking at the IHS in Harold Cross. They are roughly the same but the BRay one is ITECH and FETAC awarded

Frogdog

I've read somewhere (so this might be true or not) that anyone can become a nutritionist without any formal qualification, whereas dietician is an actual profession where an accredited qualification is needed.

Anyone know is that's true?

ciagr297

sabinette wrote: »

Hi Dolee,

HAve you decided to enrol in Bray? I am also interested in the course but am also looking at the IHS in Harold Cross. They are roughly the same but the BRay one is ITECH and FETAC awarded

here is the linky http://www.instituteofhealthsciences.com/

i went to the open day in jan and found it very informative and interesting. the people were lovely. have to admit, i did switch off when they started on the "no white flour, no milk, no animals" rant (this was part of some module you had to study)

but i'd still consider doing it

Frogdog wrote: »

I've read somewhere (so this might be true or not) that anyone can become a nutritionist without any formal qualification, whereas dietician is an actual profession where an accredited qualification is needed.

Anyone know is that's true?

the entry requirements for IHS do not specify science as requirement, just leaving cert
i think there is alot of confusion between what a nutritionist and a dietician are generally, and they are not the same

Sapsorrow

At the moment anyone can call themselves a nutritionist, you could rent a space tomorrow with zero training and stick a plaque up saying 'mr joe bloggs nutritionist' on the wall and get away with it. Dieticians need a proper qualification to practice and generally work in doctors clinics and hosptials as well in government agencies and in education. The law will change in the future regarding calling oneself a nutritionist though, so in the future only properly qualified people will be able to practice as consultants. The IHS isn't a proper college, the only ones in Ireland teaching properly certified degrees or Ma's are UCC, UCD, Coleraine and Trinity, DIT and another college I can't remember the name of run a course jointly between them. I wouln't waste my money on the IHS if you want to enter nutrition professionally, 99% of employers wouldn't even consider you with a diploma from them and there's no gaurantee on how long you get away with being in private practice with only a cert or diploma. Take it from me there's enough people floating about with proper degrees and Mas in nutrition and dietetics to compete with you wouldn't have much hope competing against that standard with a diploma.

teacosy

Doolee wrote: »

Hi there,

Im thinking of doing this, http://www.iinh.net/nutrition_and_health_coaching.htm, a 1 year nutrition and health coaching course in Bray. Theres an open day next wednesday but im not sure if I'll be finished work in time to get there before its over.

Has anyone ever done this course and what did you think? I'm looking to just get a taste of the career of nutrition and would love to help people eat better and feel better and I have a particular interest in sports nutrition which is only slightly touched upon it seems.
Would love to hear any thoughts.
Thanks a mill.
Doolee

This course would be far superior to the one you've described above
http://www.dit.ie/study/parttime/programmes/dt239eveningcourseindietnutritionandhealth/

Sapsorrow

teacosy wrote: »

This course would be far superior to the one you've described above
http://www.dit.ie/study/parttime/programmes/dt239eveningcourseindietnutritionandhealth/

Absolutely, and although you wouldn't really be qualified to a high standard (it's still only one year part time) it would be a fantastic primer course and would give you a great edge for applying for a degree in nutrition and dietetics in any of the colleges. Not bad price wise at all either and you're working with a proper college which is worth much more than anything CNM or IHS can award you.

ciagr297

agree with the comments about IHS. i would only consider doing it for my own interest, but as i said some of the content got me on my guard.
personally, i'd prefer to be a qualified dietician

i'd love to do the DIT course, anyone going to enroll?

Lantus

I've thought of doing some of these courses (and in fact there are several that I will be doing at some point.) but a lot of them charge a pricley sum to tell you very little.

If it's just for personal knowledge then you could order half a dozen good books on nutrition and exercise in conjunction with lots in internet reading and be extremely knowledgable.

If it's for a 'employed' job then yes you do have to have a serious qualification like a degree or MA.

However, that said, most of the nutrition experts I consider to be at the top of their game either have no formal qualifications or only very basic ones. They learned it over time the hard way and practise what they preach by running courses, their own company, writing books etc.

On a side note I have a friend who is doing a very specialist fitness nutrition MA and after coming back one day after 6 months simply said that everything I had told him about nutrition was right....

could of saved him a few thousand in fee's! But then it is one of the courses I would one day like to do (for personal enjoyment only.)

Doolee

sabinette wrote: »

Hi Dolee,

HAve you decided to enrol in Bray? I am also interested in the course but am also looking at the IHS in Harold Cross. They are roughly the same but the BRay one is ITECH and FETAC awarded

Hi Sabinette,
I decided not to go with the Bray course afterall. Not very impressed by the open day. I went to the one in Harolds cross too and thought that was far far superior, the speaker was excellent, the course content was more suited to what I want (re distance learning with a module of Sports Nutrition) and with 6 weekend optional classes. It suits my busy work life better and thought it was more professional all round. But Im not interested in becoming a Nutritionist or fully qualified Nutritional THERAPIST which is different. I also live close to Harolds Cross. Im more into it for my own interest too, maybe with a view to having some sort of client base who I can help make the right choices in the future.

Doolee

teacosy wrote: »

This course would be far superior to the one you've described above
http://www.dit.ie/study/parttime/programmes/dt239eveningcourseindietnutritionandhealth/

Hey, thanks for the link.
I have to say though the fees are very affordable compared to the other courses I was immediatly turned off by the picture of the good old food pyramid with alllllllll the carbs sitting pretty on the bottom shelf! At the risk of starting another thread, its the version with the abundance of fish, good fats, oils, nuts etc nearer the bottom and with the complex carbs much closer to the top I would try to instill. I hate that flippin pyramid! :rolleyes:
(hope I dont start a war on this thread now!)

El_Dangeroso

Doolee wrote: »

Hey, thanks for the link.
I have to say though the fees are very affordable compared to the other courses I was immediatly turned off by the picture of the good old food pyramid with alllllllll the carbs sitting pretty on the bottom shelf! At the risk of starting another thread, its the version with the abundance of fish, good fats, oils, nuts etc nearer the bottom and with the complex carbs much closer to the top I would try to instill. I hate that flippin pyramid! :rolleyes:
(hope I dont start a war on this thread now!)

As they say, eat like a pyramid, look like a pyramid

Doolee

ciagr297 wrote: »

here is the linky http://www.instituteofhealthsciences.com/

i went to the open day in jan and found it very informative and interesting. the people were lovely. have to admit, i did switch off when they started on the "no white flour, no milk, no animals" rant (this was part of some module you had to study)

but i'd still consider doing it

Hey thanks for that link. Thats the one I'm probably going to do, Cert in dietary coaching with a added on Sports Nutrition module. This is my main interest to be honest but theres no where that does any more than the odd talk on it. The Institute is the only one that devotes a whole module. I probably know all that has to be said in it to be honest from my own research and stuff but anyway. Really looking forward to it.

teacosy

Lantus wrote: »

I've thought of doing some of these courses (and in fact there are several that I will be doing at some point.) but a lot of them charge a pricley sum to tell you very little.

If it's just for personal knowledge then you could order half a dozen good books on nutrition and exercise in conjunction with lots in internet reading and be extremely knowledgable.

If it's for a 'employed' job then yes you do have to have a serious qualification like a degree or MA.

However, that said, most of the nutrition experts I consider to be at the top of their game either have no formal qualifications or only very basic ones. They learned it over time the hard way and practise what they preach by running courses, their own company, writing books etc.

On a side note I have a friend who is doing a very specialist fitness nutrition MA and after coming back one day after 6 months simply said that everything I had told him about nutrition was right....

could of saved him a few thousand in fee's! But then it is one of the courses I would one day like to do (for personal enjoyment only.)

Running courses, your own company, writing books etc requires hard work and determination, there's no doubt about that....but anyone with hard work and determination can do those things.

The people who have reached "the top of their game" in nutrition as you put it, in my opinion, are those who have studied the subject for years, researched it in academic institutions, and have had their research scrutinised by peers before eventually having publishing it in reputable scientific journals.

You won't have heard of them, and they haven't made the money that many of the book writers have. But their work is respected in the field, and it is their work that health policy and guidelines are derived from.

Sapsorrow

Lantus wrote: »

However, that said, most of the nutrition experts I consider to be at the top of their game either have no formal qualifications or only very basic ones. They learned it over time the hard way and practise what they preach by running courses, their own company, writing books etc.

This disturbs me now end, to think that the 'experts' people put their health in the hands of may have no proper training and learn 'the hard way'. The hard way is usually by trial and error isn't it? Nice to think of people charging forty or fifty quid an hour just to use you as a guinea pig in their own quest to nutritional expertise. It's so incredibly imoral and arrogant to presume that you can go around meddling with peoples health and well being withtout being properly trained and assessed to a high standard. You wouldn't take a prescription off a GP who had done a part time diploma for a year, food is just a bundle of biologically active chemicals too it's not all that different to popping a pill.

**Portia**

For me, I think it's such a pity there are no part time degree courses in Food Science. If I won the lotto tommorrow I would go back and do it, I find the whole area soo interesting, especially as there is still so much misinformation out there.

ciagr297

**Portia** wrote: »

For me, I think it's such a pity there are no part time degree courses in Food Science. If I won the lotto tommorrow I would go back and do it, I find the whole area soo interesting, especially as there is still so much misinformation out there.

on the misinformation aspect - absolutely! i'm so sick of hearing that white bread is the root of all evil and people should only eat all bran for breakfast:mad:

**Portia**

Hey Guys,

Ressurrecting this thread because I have decided that I am definitely going to change my career and need advice!

Ok so this is the story, I want to become a nutritionist or dietician I don't know what category I would fall into but I want to give advice to people looking to improve their nutritional health on a one-to-one consultation process.
I don't mind how long it takes me to do it (within reason) but I cannot do anything full time as I have a mortgage and will need to keep the day job.
I have heard that the only degree courses you can do are full time which is disappointing. Are there any reputable part time courses which I could do instead?

Sapsorrow

Not that I know of, there's just so much to learn you'd spend a lifetime doing it part-time. Mine took four years and I was doing crazy hours every week with all the work you have to do at home too. If you want to be a consultant then becomming a dietician or nutritionist would be suitable but only a dietician can work in a hospital which personally I'd hate to do as your stuck with a protocol you have to follow then. There really is not reputable alternative.

**Portia**

Sapsorrow wrote: »

Not that I know of, there's just so much to learn you'd spend a lifetime doing it part-time. Mine took four years and I was doing crazy hours every week with all the work you have to do at home too. If you want to be a consultant then becomming a dietician or nutritionist would be suitable but only a dietician can work in a hospital which personally I'd hate to do as your stuck with a protocol you have to follow then. There really is not reputable alternative.

Ok thanks for the advice, hmm I wonder are there any grants or special student loans I could get if I wanted to do it full time, prob not in fairness. I wonder if there are any courses in England or anything..might be clutching at straws here. What if I did a science degree part time and then did a post-grad, would that be possible...?

Sapsorrow

**Portia** wrote: »

Ok thanks for the advice, hmm I wonder are there any grants or special student loans I could get if I wanted to do it full time, prob not in fairness. I wonder if there are any courses in England or anything..might be clutching at straws here. What if I did a science degree part time and then did a post-grad, would that be possible...?

It would be an option (if you can do a science degree part-time?? not sure about that) but not a very wise one tbh, you'll spend lots of time, money and energy learning stuff that isn't particularly relevant and still only do a post-grad that will more than likely leave your knowledge lacking quite a lot due to the constraints on time etc (you can still only learn so much in a one or two year post-grad). I reckon you'd have to be in Mensa or superhuman to do a science degree part-time and work a normal job. It's such a huge amount of work (and stress) without any other commitments and you've also got to consider all the labs and written projects, lab projects, presentations and work placements. I really don't see how you could work it tbh, surely going to England isn't an option with the mortgage etc?

Sapsorrow

It's a bad time to be looking for grants, the golden age of free third level is coming to an end here I think. Unless you were to get back to education allowance, but you need to be on social welfare for a certain amount of time to be eligable. Could you manage the mortgage (and the course fees) with a part-time job on the weekends? The only thing is, I know in my course no one really managed to hold a part-time job after second or third year, the work load was just too big.

**Portia**

Sapsorrow wrote: »

It's a bad time to be looking for grants, the golden age of free third level is coming to an end here I think. Unless you were to get back to education allowance, but you need to be on social welfare for a certain amount of time to be eligable. Could you manage the mortgage (and the course fees) with a part-time job on the weekends? The only thing is, I know in my course no one really managed to hold a part-time job after second or third year, the work load was just too big.

Yeah that might be an option, maybe supplemented with a loan from the parentals and working full tim during the summer. I know it would involve zero social life and stuff but that doesn't bother me for some reason. Have time to think about it anyway...hmm

Sapsorrow

That could work! There's plenty of opportunity for socializing in life, I didn't miss it much myself tbh.

**Portia**

Ahh to be fair it won't work, way too much money which there's no way a bank would lend me and only a fraction of which my parents culd help me out with, would also completely put m life on hold for 4 years which isn't fair on the bf either. Oh well I can just keep on doing the lotto and crossing my fingers! In the meantime I have to figure out something I can do which I will be interested in and which would work foir me.
Thanks again for the advice. Also, I see on your book wishlist thingy on your blog that Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint is on it. I have it and can post it to u if you like?

Sapsorrow

Aw I know it's a tough situation alright, the one thing I would say to you though is if it really is your passion then consider holding out on going in another direction (and spending a load of money on it) in case in a few years things change and you find yourself able to aply yourself to the full-time course. You're young and still have plenty of time to do this. If it makes you feel any better it's a really crap time to be a nutritionist, there's no work (eespecially for graduates) and no one has the spare cash to want to hire a consultant. So it might be wise to hold out and see how investment goes in the health sector in the future too, I can imagine it'll only get worse for the foreseeable future tbh. Thanks for the offer, that's really sweet but I actually just got it there a week or two ago!

**Portia**

Sapsorrow wrote: »

Aw I know it's a tough situation alright, the one thing I would say to you though is if it really is your passion then consider holding out on going in another direction (and spending a load of money on it) in case in a few years things change and you find yourself able to aply yourself to the full-time course. You're young and still have plenty of time to do this. If it makes you feel any better it's a really crap time to be a nutritionist, there's no work (eespecially for graduates) and no one has the spare cash to want to hire a consultant. So it might be wise to hold out and see how investment goes in the health sector in the future too, I can imagine it'll only get worse for the foreseeable future tbh. Thanks for the offer, that's really sweet but I actually just got it there a week or two ago!

Yeah you're right thanks for the advice

ciagr297

Portia - do you have the Primal Blueprint in pdf or similiar format? it would be great to have it - PM me please:D

Sapsorrow

I got a job in a really hectic cafe in town today, one of the other girls working there is a food scientist, it doesn't say much for the Irish career opportunities in food and nutrition these days I say you're better off in your current job for now Portia! On this topic does anyone know where to go to find out about going into second level teaching? I'd love to do it, apparantly there's a shortage of science teachers in England and Ireland and there's talk about bringing nutrition into the school curriculum.