PrePA0410 Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 (edited) Hi all, Anyone on here currently working as a registered dietitian? Edited February 22, 2019 by kneuendorff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 Hi all, Anyone on here currently working as a registered dietitian? A couple of PA classes ago, we had two RDs. We’ve had a few since. They did fine.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaitlinKerk Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 (edited) Hello, I am applying this upcoming cycle and have been working as a clinical dietitian for the past several years. I'm interested to hear the perspective of other RD's pursuing/practicing as PA's! I am planning to keep my RD credential moving forward (by keeping up on continuing eds). Edited March 7, 2019 by CaitlinKerk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apingel Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 I am an RD! I'm also applying this upcoming cycle and plan on maintaining my RD credential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lholloway14 Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 I just found this! I have been a critical care RD for 10 years and submitted my first PA app about a month ago. Fingers crossed!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernaTN Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 I'm also a registered dietitian! Submitted my application yesterday. My dietetics curriculum during undergrad did not require us to take ochem and microbio for science majors, nor did we have to take genetics. On top of that, my undergrad did not have a lab for A&P so I've been retaking all of my science courses... If I may ask, what was one of the major deciding factors for you guys to switch careers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrePA0410 Posted August 1, 2019 Author Share Posted August 1, 2019 Lholloway I think we connected on facebook a while back! I am glad to hear you applied how was your application process overall? BernaTN luckily I took microbio and ochem but I have had to take psychology and english because I took them in high school. I have to take anatomy with lab this fall and then plan to apply next year! For me, I really just want to be more involved in the medical field. I don't feel as if I am pushed enough as a dietitian if that makes sense. I am taking classes to apply but may also look into other medical career fields. What about you? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernaTN Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 @kneuendorff Good luck with applications next cycle! It was a lot more complicated than DICAS since each school has different requirements. I reasoning is similar to yours also. I wanted to be able to provide comprehensive care to patients. I think blending medicine with our nutrition background will make us well-rounded PAs! I just hope I get into a program! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lholloway14 Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 5 hours ago, kneuendorff said: Lholloway I think we connected on facebook a while back! I am glad to hear you applied how was your application process overall? BernaTN luckily I took microbio and ochem but I have had to take psychology and english because I took them in high school. I have to take anatomy with lab this fall and then plan to apply next year! For me, I really just want to be more involved in the medical field. I don't feel as if I am pushed enough as a dietitian if that makes sense. I am taking classes to apply but may also look into other medical career fields. What about you? Hi! Yes we did! The application process was a beast! I completed the Yale PA Online application and then had to complete CASPA for an additional 5 schools. I have attended 6 different schools and have over 200 units so transcript entry was a bit tedious. I recommend getting your letters of rec, transcripts and GRE scores to CASPA as soon as it opens. Then you can focus on all your experience and education entries (and your personal statement of course). I used PA Resource to edit my personal statement and they gave great feedback. Well worth the 120 dollars. My down fall is my cumulative GPA so I am signed up to take a few classes this semester and will take 6 more in spring if I don’t get in anywhere. Fingers crossed that doesn’t have to happen! For me, I am an extremely medically minded person. I want to be able to take care of the whole patient, not just a part of the care. Good luck to everyone! I think our experience as RDs has greatly prepared us for PA school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRRDPA Posted August 8, 2019 Share Posted August 8, 2019 Hi all, I was an RD for four years before starting PA school. I am currently a 1st years at UTHSC. If anyone has any questions regarding my process please feel free to ask! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annehuang Posted September 16, 2019 Share Posted September 16, 2019 On 8/8/2019 at 1:36 PM, MRRDPA said: Hi all, I was an RD for four years before starting PA school. I am currently a 1st years at UTHSC. If anyone has any questions regarding my process please feel free to ask! I've been a RD for 10 years now working in both SNF and acute care, my last 3 years experiences are in food service management. How do you feel about the PA program so far? coming from a RD background, emergency / surgery medicine is very far from what we've learned or even do as a RD. Does school start from the very basic or they expect certain level of experiences already? The admission rate in Southern california is about 10%, does having RD background a plus or not really? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRRDPA Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 I would recommend staying in healthcare in order to further your application and assure you look serious about being a PA. They start from the basics as far as school goes, they have to because everyone has different experiences and backgrounds. I think being an RD helps you stand out a bit from the crowd as long as you have a solid GPA and decent GRE test score! Being an RD has helped in certain classes like Nephro, endocrine, and Gastroenterology as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopefulpa9485 Posted October 15, 2019 Share Posted October 15, 2019 Me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marandajo07 Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 I am a RDN/LD applying this year for school. So far I have gotten several interviews to the schools that I applied to. I feel that I have a diverse background that has set me apart from others. I currently work at a community hospital and have for the past 3 years since graduation. I don't have the best GRE score but many schools don't require it. Good luck for all the future PA, RDNs out there! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernaTN Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 On 10/28/2019 at 9:29 PM, Marandajo07 said: I am a RDN/LD applying this year for school. So far I have gotten several interviews to the schools that I applied to. I feel that I have a diverse background that has set me apart from others. I currently work at a community hospital and have for the past 3 years since graduation. I don't have the best GRE score but many schools don't require it. Good luck for all the future PA, RDNs out there! @Marandajo07 I'm in the same boat! Just accepted a seat at my dream school. Will you keep your RDN/LD? I'm not sure if I want to as the cost of the license annually is getting more and more expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marandajo07 Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 @bernaTN I think initially I will keep it since my 5 year is coming up anyway and I have most my CEUs but after that I am not sure. Idk how much it costs to keep the PA licensure and that will play a role! And congratulations on acceptance!!! How exciting! Whooooooooo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKay52 Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 Hi! I'm an RD hoping to apply next year! Just going to retake/take some classes to boost my GPA! I'm currently working in an acute care hospital in the neurosurgical ICU, medical ICU, surgical ICU and cardiothoracic ICU. I would LOVE to connect with all of you and chat! Best of luck to everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhDMHSRDPA2B Posted December 8, 2019 Share Posted December 8, 2019 On 7/31/2019 at 10:02 PM, Lholloway14 said: I just found this! I have been a critical care RD for 10 years and submitted my first PA app about a month ago. Fingers crossed!! Since you worked for 10 years, did you have to re-take all your pre-reqs? Or just certain ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lholloway14 Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 6 hours ago, PhDMHSRDPA2B said: Since you worked for 10 years, did you have to re-take all your pre-reqs? Or just certain ones? I did not and put an application out there to A few schools that don’t have expirations on prerequisites. That being said, I was not accepted and was advised to update prereqs. When I apply next cycle, I will have re-completed/updated human anatomy, human physiology, o chem, bio, histology, micro, virology and abnormal psych. I also updated my statistics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhDMHSRDPA2B Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 2 hours ago, Lholloway14 said: I did not and put an application out there to A few schools that don’t have expirations on prerequisites. That being said, I was not accepted and was advised to update prereqs. When I apply next cycle, I will have re-completed/updated human anatomy, human physiology, o chem, bio, histology, micro, virology and abnormal psych. I also updated my statistics. Wow! Really inspiring that you re-took all those courses, Im dreading having to do the same thing. Thanks for replying, good luck to you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernaTN Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 9 minutes ago, PhDMHSRDPA2B said: Wow! Really inspiring that you re-took all those courses, Im dreading having to do the same thing. Thanks for replying, good luck to you I was only 4 years out from graduating and also had to retake all of my science classes. It’s a pain but a nice refresher! What’s frustrating is that not all schools have the same requirements. Once I was accepted into a program, only 1 out of the 4 classes I was taking at the time actually mattered. But I guess your GPA still needs to remain high so you can’t really fail those classes either. Good luck on your journey! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhDMHSRDPA2B Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 16 minutes ago, bernaTN said: I was only 4 years out from graduating and also had to retake all of my science classes. It’s a pain but a nice refresher! What’s frustrating is that not all schools have the same requirements. Once I was accepted into a program, only 1 out of the 4 classes I was taking at the time actually mattered. But I guess your GPA still needs to remain high so you can’t really fail those classes either. Good luck on your journey! Thanks for the feedback! 4 years is super recent, I’m wondering what made you opt to re-take all your pre-reqs. Did anyone suggest this to you or did you just do it to improve your chances? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernaTN Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 6 hours ago, PhDMHSRDPA2B said: Thanks for the feedback! 4 years is super recent, I’m wondering what made you opt to re-take all your pre-reqs. Did anyone suggest this to you or did you just do it to improve your chances? I had to retake the courses because my freshmen sciences were >5 years old and some of my classes were not for science majors, unfortunately. So I had to retake all of them. My anatomy and physiology were separated, too, and for PA school, a lab is required. I ended up making a spreadsheet of all of my interested schools with their science requires and time frame to better gauge which classes I had to retake. So I had to retake the classes because it was necessary to even be able to apply to the schools I wanted to go to. Some schools even allow you to apply with outstanding prereqs. Others require you to have them finished by the end of the summer or before matriculation. The differences between all of the programs really frustrated me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhDMHSRDPA2B Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 5 hours ago, bernaTN said: I had to retake the courses because my freshmen sciences were >5 years old and some of my classes were not for science majors, unfortunately. So I had to retake all of them. My anatomy and physiology were separated, too, and for PA school, a lab is required. I ended up making a spreadsheet of all of my interested schools with their science requires and time frame to better gauge which classes I had to retake. So I had to retake the classes because it was necessary to even be able to apply to the schools I wanted to go to. Some schools even allow you to apply with outstanding prereqs. Others require you to have them finished by the end of the summer or before matriculation. The differences between all of the programs really frustrated me! I see, thanks! The variation in reqs is odd to me too, but at least it means that some doors are closed but others are open! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FormerRD Posted December 14, 2019 Share Posted December 14, 2019 On 9/15/2019 at 9:57 PM, annehuang said: I've been a RD for 10 years now working in both SNF and acute care, my last 3 years experiences are in food service management. How do you feel about the PA program so far? coming from a RD background, emergency / surgery medicine is very far from what we've learned or even do as a RD. Does school start from the very basic or they expect certain level of experiences already? The admission rate in Southern california is about 10%, does having RD background a plus or not really? I'm an RD at a Southern California PA school! I think what helped my application wasn't so much as being as RD, but being an RD for 6 years when I applied. To be honest, I don't think most of my teachers understand what an RD does, especially in an inpatient setting where I mostly worked (classic), but they definitely liked that I had >10,000 hours of PCE! I only applied to schools that didn't have prerequisite expiration dates because it felt ludicrous to retake classes I had gotten (mostly) As in, especially since I had worked in healthcare the entire time. Luckily I was accepted my first cycle and am 4 finals away from finishing my didactic year! They teach you everything you need to know in school. I definitely had a slight advantage over my younger classmates due to my extensive hospital experience/being familiar with the professional medical world, but I've still learned a ton this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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