ddes123 Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Hello! I am currently finishing up my sophomore year as a nutrition and health sciences major. My original plan was to become a registered dietitian after my bachelor's, but the more I researched it the more I thought PA might be the better route. My degree covers all the prerequisites for the PA programs, my question is how sought after are PA's with a nutrition background? My ultimate goal would be working as a PA specializing in nutrition related issues such as diabetes, obesity, etc. Is this a good path to take or are PA and nutrition too different to fit together well? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paula Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 We just discussed this briefly in another post. Look it up under medical billing and coding section and you will see it..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceBanner Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 It may be helpful in interviewing for work, but undergrad degrees are largely irrelevant to employers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primadonna22274 Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 You would be a boon in many practices--especially endocrinology, general pediatrics and family medicine. The more difficult question would be whether you have adequate time with your patients to counsel and teach appropriately. Often it's cheaper for a large practice to hire a dietitian and have the clinicians see 4-5 patients an hour. Even if you can't use your nutrition counseling directly while working as a PA, it would be a very valuable background to have along with medicine. We had almost zero nutrition education in my PA program 16 years ago. I'm sure that's changed some now. However, in my medical school, we had easily 50 hr of dedicated nutrition education (much of it guided learning with some awesome modules that I can't remember who wrote them--I think it was one of the big med schools) integrated with each system (cardio, pulm, GI, neuro etc). It was fantastic and I think really helped cement the biochemical and physiological processes of metabolism in my mind. I use at least a little bit of that knowledge with my patients every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paula Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 ^^^^^^^ agree with primadonna. I am a dietitian but our practice still contracts with a dietitian as I don't have a lot of time to spend in-depth with patients on nutrition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geauxpa Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Get your RD, I'm currently in my internship and finish in 2 weeks. I'm applying this cycle to PA school. I'm so grateful for what I have been exposed to throughout my internship. Worst case scenario if you get your RD-takes 1 extra year, but you can make >$40,000 plus if you don't get into PA school on your first try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geauxpa Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 My internship also has 15 hours of graduate work. It gives you the chance to show that you can succeed in grad school too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted May 7, 2014 Moderator Share Posted May 7, 2014 there are some dual mph/rd programs out there as well. Chsapel hill has a good one. I know someone who did the program and is now a public health nutritionist and certified diabetic educator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterallsummer Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Saw a job asking for this. Weight loss clinic. Also DM management I'd imagine it'd help quite a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.