Why Dietetics – I want to enter the dietetics profession to further my education and career in clinical nutrition and health science. I hope to advance my knowledge of nutrition and human physiology, and help educate others of the impact on health dietary choices have. The dietetics field is a growing profession and has many opportunities in research, community health, and individual clinical care that I would love to be a bigger part of. I have a passion for helping others improve their lives, and believe nutrition is a core component of quality of life and health. I really enjoy working with patients in the healthcare setting, and would love to build a career where I can work one on one to support others in their unique health journeys. There is an abundance of opportunities for growth and learning in dietetics, providing a platform to make a difference in people’s lives, making dietetics the ideal path for me. 

Short-term Goals – My short term career goals include completing my masters in nutrition science and a dietetic internship to gain more hands-on experience in the dietetic field. I then plan to sit for the RD exam. During my dietetic internship, I would like to focus on inpatient-clinical rotations, but also do some outpatient rotations to see how dieticians help individuals with specific medical nutritional needs outside of hospital. I would love to explore endocrinology, nephrology and gastrointestinal nutritional health more, either during my rotations, or afterwards. After getting my credential, I plan to work in a hospital for a couple years to gain more confidence and experience working with patients, and to explore different fields of dietetics. I hope to work as an inpatient dietician for a few years, and explore the sub-divisions in nutrition to see what is the most rewarding and impactful. Eventually, I would also like to participate in research that involves curing or significantly reducing the impact of inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohn’s or Ulcerative Colitis through diet or understanding nutrigenomics.

Long-term Goals – My long term goals involve finding the subdiscipline in dietetics that is the most intriguing to me, and pursuing more education and certification in that area. I also would like to have my own private practice, where I can provide more guidance and support for clients. I would still like to be involved in nutrition research, as I believe nutrition is such a core component of so many illnesses, and the subject of nutrigenomics is only recently being explored more.  Once I have established a career as a dietitian either with my own practice, in hospital, or in research, I would like to additionally participate in more public health sectors of nutrition, such as working with WIC or being a part of more fundraisers and local community nutrition outreach programs.