Have you ever wondered what your career path as a nutrition professional would look like?
How about the different educational avenues open to you?
Well, we’ve put together some information that can help you make an informed decision!
Nutrition is a vital part of all our lives…
It has a profound effect on your quality of life, and the quality of all the lives around you!
So, it makes sense that so many people want to learn more about it.
Not only because it’s such a viable career option…
But because it has the power to improve you on a more personal level!
There’s more than one avenue to become a nutrition professional, though…
So, which one is right for you?
The answer to that question starts with defining YOUR version of a nutrition professional…
First, let’s talk about what it means to be a nutrition professional
Everyone has their own idea of what a career in nutrition looks like.
For many, it’s a full-time career spent advising clients, working in coaching or personal training fields, or working alongside other types of healthcare professionals.
Others might already have degrees in healthcare or other fields, and just need a way to augment their current situations…
And then there are some who aren’t sure if a career as a nutrition professional is right for them, or if they should consider pursuing their certifications for personal reasons alone.
ALL of these are correct for different people!
But if we’re talking about a nutrition professional, we’re generally referring to someone who has (or wants to have) some sort of education in nutrition that they can use to help paying clients.
This could be a college-educated registered nutritionist or registered dietitian who’s already licensed and simply wants to continue their existing education…
Or, it could be someone working in an unrelated field who wants to add to their current professional value and maybe even start a nutrition advising practice of their own.
You don’t need to be a full-time, ambitious entrepreneur to benefit from nutrition certifications…
You just need to have a plan for personal or professional implementation!
So, when do you need a conventional college education?
Whether you need a conventional college education in nutrition really depends on your career goals and on the types of clients you want to help!
For example, Registered Dieticians work mainly in public healthcare (in the UK, the NHS and hospitals) and must have a university degree minimum.
A dietician tends to advise people with special dietary needs or diseases (diabetes, cancer, etc).
Dieticians are regulated and therefore qualified to treat certain medical conditions alongside medical doctors.
Whereas Registered Nutritionists often work in education, industry or research type jobs where they apply their knowledge to food.
They tend to be part of one or more voluntary registers.
Nutritionists tend to provide more general information about food and healthy eating and they are usually not qualified to give specific information about therapeutic diets.
Receiving a university degree can be a 3-6-year commitment, depending on the extent of your studies…
But we know that not everyone wants a career that involves such a long-term and high cost to come out as a generalist without knowing how to safely work with clients…
This is why expert certifications are a great option if you want to pursue a nutrition business and work with your own clients.
Becoming an expert, quicker
If you want to work with clients in your own private capacity, you benefit from being trained with practical client-focused knowledge.
Say, you want to work with a healthy individual in order to promote wellbeing and help reduce disease risk, or you want to work with a sick individual who is looking to ease or minimise symptoms of a developed disease.
That’s where nutrition professionals who specialist can complement (not replace) a medical treatment…
Our graduates recognise that every person is unique and therefore has an individual set of dietary requirements.
For instance, if you want to assess whether or not an individual’s diet is suitable for their current state of health, you could personalise a program to help addresses any nutritional deficiency risks.
Or even if you want to maximise your personal value and earning potential in another field, such as a corporate HR representative who helps employees with ways to improve their nutrition, eating habits, and sleep quality…
Which options do YOU have?
There are so many different options that you can consider.
Below are a couple of options that we at The Health Sciences Academy can specifically help you with.
You can become a:
- Nutritional Therapist and learn to identify nutrient deficiency risks and build tailored nutritional programs for your own clients
- Clinical Weight Loss Practitioner and help clients overcome food addiction and lose weight more effortlessly
- Detox Specialist so you can help your clients in a safe and personalised way in the field of toxicology and detoxification
- Child and Brain Development Nutritional Advisor so you can help families and children with their nutrition on physical, emotional and intellectual development
- Sports and Exercise Nutritional Advisor to work with sports coaches and professional athletes, helping clients prepare for their big sports events
- Dietary Supplements Advisor so that you can build personalised dietary supplements programs for your clients and mitigating the risk of harmful intakes
Or maybe you like the idea of certify as an advisor in:
- Sleep management
- Stress management
- Fertility nutrition
- Gut restoration
- Muscle building
- Plant-based nutrition
- Skincare and repair
- Pregnancy nutrition
- Emotional eating
There are so many different paths to choose from!
(End even combining certifications can help you craft a multi-service practice!)
If you want to provide people with scientifically-backed guidance, you’ve got all sorts of ways to help them choose and practice healthier habits and help them improve the quality of life – for a wide range of people!
Getting certified to become a specialist is not for everyone, so we always recommend asking yourself these questions before you start:
- Do you want to build a business as a nutrition advisor, working with a wide variety of clients?
- Do you want to enhance your current knowledge with practical nutrition science?
- Are you ready to commit to a 3-6 year university degree or do you want to be ready to work with clients within less than a year?
- Do you like the idea of starting with a “side-hustle” so that you can make additional money while fitting into your current work schedule?
Did you know? Some of our graduates love nutrition science so much that after completing various certifications with us that they proceed to a Master or PhD – even without having done a graduate degree. This would not have been possible without our expert training.
Your options are endless!
There are so many clients who can benefit from your help!
Or even your colleagues or family members…
Are you ready to explore your options?
|
