Part time diet or nutritian course?

uglybetty

I'm really interested in diet and nutrition and have been trying for over a year to find a part-time or distance learning course that would qualify me as a dietian. I havent been able to find one.

Does anybody have any advise? I work full time and wouldnt be able to give it up.

Thanks!

El_Dangeroso

Short answer there is no part-time or distance course that qualifies you as a dietitian. Dietitian is a protected title and requires strict accreditation. Sapsorrow is a user on here that has completed a 4-year nutritional science degree and knows all the ins and outs of getting qualified.

Nutritionist on the other hand is not a protected title, you are your dog can become a nutritionist.

Sapsorrow

You're not going to get anything worthwhile in a year, you're looking at four years full time minimum to become a dietician or nutritionist who can register with the BNS or anyone else repsectable. If you do anything less don't expect to be accredited by anyone useful and you can safely assume that one day you will not legally be allowed to practice in Ireland. UCC and UCD and Coleraine up the North are your options in Ireland. It's a long haul but worth it. You would want to have a good head for all the sciencey stuff like chemistry in particular, it gets incredibly difficult at times if you don't have an aptitude or background in science as was the case for me when I was doing it. Don't expect to be learning about the benifits of bee pollen or fish oil supplements it's nothing like as romantic as that.

muffinn

Sapsorrow wrote: »

You're not going to get anything worthwhile in a year, you're looking at four years full time minimum to become a dietician or nutritionist who can register with the BNS or anyone else repsectable. If you do anything less don't expect to be accredited by anyone useful and you can safely assume that one day you will not legally be allowed to practice in Ireland. UCC and UCD and Coleraine up the North are your options in Ireland. It's a long haul but worth it. You would want to have a good head for all the sciencey stuff like chemistry in particular, it gets incredibly difficult at times if you don't have an aptitude or background in science as was the case for me when I was doing it. Don't expect to be learning about the benifits of bee pollen or fish oil supplements it's nothing like as romantic as that.

Hello!

This is all very interesting!

I'm all about nutrition and stuff. I'll be starting an Exercise, Fitness & Nutrition course in September. It's a one year long course with a possibility of advancing on 2nd year. When I'm done with it I'd like to pursue to a degree level. Was thinking about human nutrition & dietetics or nutraceuticals in health & nutrition, both in DIT.

What do you recon, would I have any chances of getting a place, applying as a mature student ?

What are the job prospects in Ireland, do you work in your profession if I may ask ?

Sapsorrow

I don't know the ins and outs of application requirements for DIT, I didn't apply as a mature student so I got in on the strength of my leaving cert through the CAO, AFAIK as a mature student they go primarily on an interview where you try and sell yourself and any work experience or undergrad you may have in the area.

To be honest it's not the getting in that you need to think about it's whether once you're in you're able for the workload as it's particularly intensive. Again, just to stress, (because I wish I'd known it back in the day) but there's a big difference between the nutrition most of us find interesting and that which you study in college.

You can expect lots of boring (and extremely difficult) chemistry, maths, statistics and microbiology and even physics and feck all interesting nutrition modules. Even the dietetics modules are very dull. So unless you have an insatiable passion for the area I'd think carefully before making any commitments as it really is a phenomenal amount of hard work that largely feels like it has nothing to do with nutrition at all. The fact that so much of what you're studying feels so unrelated or uniteresting really tests your comittment and determination to just keep going with it.

Don't expect it to be anything like as interesting as the nutrition books you may read because it's just not 99% of the time. What you're taught in dietetics is also extremely conservative and in my opinion often based on outdated and largely discredited theories and there's no lee-way to bring your own slant in on working with patients in a clinical setting, you have a protocol and you have to follow it regardless of your own knowledge or thoughts on the matter.

I'm not trying to put anyone off at all but I had no idea what I was getting myself in for, I don't regret it one bit but I had overly romantic notions about what I was signing myself up for and it was a huge shock to find myself studying chemistry for four years! I don't think I would have been able to stick it out only for the fact that I was completely and utterly obsessed with all things nutrition related and was therefore willing to sacrifice a lot in my life while I got through it. For me, as someone out of the academic system for a few years when I started the course, it involved a lot of grinds (and money), sleepless nights, months on end without taking a single day off (I only took christmas day off the first two years) and quite a few nervous breakdowns, but, I got through it (just about) with an honours degree and a few scholarships to boot and I'm very happy that I did it despite the disillusionment.

There's very little work going in Ireland in nutrition, there's no demand for dieticians whatsoever, to the point that some are working in the hosptials for free. I know a girl who's been qualified as a dietician (as an Ma) and hasn't been able to find anything for years and has been working in the college instead for pennies.

Personally, if it were me, I'd go for the course I did, which was nutritional science because we're skilled to work in anything from a hospital to pharma and so have far more job opportunities than a dietician would. Also it means that you could go on and become a dietician through an Ma and have the best of both worlds, that is you can look for work in industry and health. If you're willing to work abroad and have a foreign language you might find work as a dietician but not much hope here these days. There is a fair amount of work in the food and pharma industries for people with nutritional science however.

teacosy

it might be worthwhile to try this course if you live in Dublin. it will give you a taste for the subject, and confirm for you if you want to invest more time in a higher qualification
http://www.dit.ie/study/parttime/programmes/dt239eveningcourseindietnutritionandhealth/#d.en.14258

muffinn

Sapsorrow wrote: »

I don't know the ins and outs of application requirements for DIT, I didn't apply as a mature student so I got in on the strength of my leaving cert through the CAO, AFAIK as a mature student they go primarily on an interview where you try and sell yourself and any work experience or undergrad you may have in the area.

To be honest it's not the getting in that you need to think about it's whether once you're in you're able for the workload as it's particularly intensive. Again, just to stress, (because I wish I'd known it back in the day) but there's a big difference between the nutrition most of us find interesting and that which you study in college.

You can expect lots of boring (and extremely difficult) chemistry, maths, statistics and microbiology and even physics and feck all interesting nutrition modules. Even the dietetics modules are very dull. So unless you have an insatiable passion for the area I'd think carefully before making any commitments as it really is a phenomenal amount of hard work that largely feels like it has nothing to do with nutrition at all. The fact that so much of what you're studying feels so unrelated or uniteresting really tests your comittment and determination to just keep going with it.

Don't expect it to be anything like as interesting as the nutrition books you may read because it's just not 99% of the time. What you're taught in dietetics is also extremely conservative and in my opinion often based on outdated and largely discredited theories and there's no lee-way to bring your own slant in on working with patients in a clinical setting, you have a protocol and you have to follow it regardless of your own knowledge or thoughts on the matter.

I'm not trying to put anyone off at all but I had no idea what I was getting myself in for, I don't regret it one bit but I had overly romantic notions about what I was signing myself up for and it was a huge shock to find myself studying chemistry for four years! I don't think I would have been able to stick it out only for the fact that I was completely and utterly obsessed with all things nutrition related and was therefore willing to sacrifice a lot in my life while I got through it. For me, as someone out of the academic system for a few years when I started the course, it involved a lot of grinds (and money), sleepless nights, months on end without taking a single day off (I only took christmas day off the first two years) and quite a few nervous breakdowns, but, I got through it (just about) with an honours degree and a few scholarships to boot and I'm very happy that I did it despite the disillusionment.

There's very little work going in Ireland in nutrition, there's no demand for dieticians whatsoever, to the point that some are working in the hosptials for free. I know a girl who's been qualified as a dietician (as an Ma) and hasn't been able to find anything for years and has been working in the college instead for pennies.

Personally, if it were me, I'd go for the course I did, which was nutritional science because we're skilled to work in anything from a hospital to pharma and so have far more job opportunities than a dietician would. Also it means that you could go on and become a dietician through an Ma and have the best of both worlds, that is you can look for work in industry and health. If you're willing to work abroad and have a foreign language you might find work as a dietician but not much hope here these days. There is a fair amount of work in the food and pharma industries for people with nutritional science however.

Thanks for such a great reply!

This isn't quite what I was expecting to hear but at least you're being honest

It's not really the amount of study/work that really puts me off but the lack of job perspective. Still though, I'm really into food and nutrition.

Might try with something else than dietitian studies but still related to health and nutrition but maybe with better chances of getting a job. Maybe in science industry or something like that.

But hey, you never know what's the economy like in 5-6 years, right ?

Anyway, thanks again for your reply, it's been great help.

Sapsorrow

No worries, going for science would be a wise compromise. There's always going to be work in the science and the food industry. Understanding the science is a great tool to further your own understanding of the therapeutic aspects of nutrition and enables you to think so much more critically and to draw your own informed copnclusions. I'd definately reccomend the course I did in UCC if you are interested in the science, the course is extremely well run and the staff are so supportive and caring. They also make a big effort to help you find your feet after you finish up with them. You can always arrange to go in and talk to a member of the academic staff in whatever college you're interested in about the course and what it entails before you make any comittment, in my college at least the lecturers were always more than happy to talk to us and provide guidance in any way they could.