Becoming a practicing nutritionist
Clarifying the confusing path to nutritionist status
Well if you are finding the path to choosing where to study to become a nutritionist confusing you are not alone. As one of the most common questions we are asked we completely understand your confusion!
Well if you are finding the path to choosing where to study to become a nutritionist confusing you are not alone. As one of the most common questions we are asked we completely understand your confusion!
Why is it so confusing?
Currently in Australia and NZ there is no strict control over who can use the label 'nutritionist'. Having said that, one of the central reasons you must undertake a relevant course is so that at the end of it you are:
a) Accepted by a reputable industry association and;
b) You can then gain public liability and indemnity insurances so you can practice safely.
In essence anyone can call themselves a nutrition consultant, weight loss consultant, nutrition coach and so on and unless you check you won't necessarily know if they are accredited or registered or associated to an industry body who will have ensured a certain level of academic and clinical proficiency (current and ongoing); mental note to self to check these things...!
See also our short YouTube video on what to consider regarding nutrition courses.
a) Accepted by a reputable industry association and;
b) You can then gain public liability and indemnity insurances so you can practice safely.
In essence anyone can call themselves a nutrition consultant, weight loss consultant, nutrition coach and so on and unless you check you won't necessarily know if they are accredited or registered or associated to an industry body who will have ensured a certain level of academic and clinical proficiency (current and ongoing); mental note to self to check these things...!
See also our short YouTube video on what to consider regarding nutrition courses.
What is the minimum requirement?
The simplest (and we are not judging it to be the easiest) way is via an Advanced Diploma of Nutrition Medicine. These are commonly offered by private colleges including:
Most colleges offer the diploma via face-to-face, but also recognising that geography shouldn't be a limitation they also offer distance options. Now, it is important to make mention of two considerations:
What do you mean by different type of 'nutritionists'?
Good question. Well you will see nutritionists refer to themselves in the following ways:
Our view
We have numerous nutritionists and dietitians who work with us, all with different expertise and backgrounds. And as you can see from the points above, there is no one type of 'nutritionist' that is necessarily better than the other. Instead, ensure a practitioner is registered with a body, has current insurance and try to find one who has long specialised in the area you require help with. Word-of-mouth is an excellent referral system and select a person you feel comfortable with. Don't be too swayed by the seemingly impressive long lists of qualifications someone tacks on their website or business card, you can find sometimes half of them are in fact only memberships... tricky!!!!
The only courses that allow you to use nutrition professionally apart from the ones above are:
How much study is involved in becoming a nutritionist?
We won't kid you, it is a long and costly process (of around $20,000 over three years), but for most people it is a very enjoyable one with a great reward at the end! We built our business on a single course that we knew people wanted, an inexpensive course to 'test the water', to see if they wanted to invest lots of time and money into becoming a nutritionist! The Accredited Certificate of Nutrition, which is only a few hundred dollars and 34 hours of study, remains our most popular course 14 years later!
So, here's a glimpse of what's involved in the three-year Advanced Diploma of Nutritional Medicine: Anatomy and Physiology (100+hrs), biochemistry and chemistry (100+ hours), diagnosis and pathology, pharmacology (300hrs), nutrition (400hrs), professional practice studies (160hrs), communication and counseling (30+hrs), supervised clinical training (200hrs), safe practice (15hrs), First Aid Certificate.
What about other short courses; will they allow me to work in nutrition
You will see lot's of different diploma's and certificates in nutrition and health. For example, nutrition counseling, public health, public nutrition, population health and so on and so on. Some of these courses may even be offered by RTOs and be nationally recognised providing you with a national certificate. While this is a great thing to have as it will mean you have covered a number units in a larger training package, we do suggest you consider where you want your studies to take you; what career path you want to go into. You can find more obscure courses have fairly narrow professional relevance in nutrition, discuss with the provider exactly what level of advice you can provide and what specific roles you might be able to apply for, few if any other than the diploma of nutrition allow you to practice in nutrition. Mental note to self!
Where to find out more about university?
We recommend you grab yourself a copy of the UAC guide or simply Google 'nutrition degree', there are numerous universities across Australia offering undergraduate courses.Likewise if you have a degree and are considering post graduate (for example if you want to become a registered nutritionist or accredited dietitian) google 'post graduate nutrition degrees'.
A few examples of universities to look at (and keep in mind who offers what and when changes regularly):
Our recommendations for getting on the road to working with nutrition or becoming a nutritionist
1. Fitness path
If you are keen to tackle health from both an eating and fitness side (makes perfect sense) then consider undertaking the Certificate IV in Fitness with an approved RTO provider and completing our Accredited Certificate in Nutrition either at the same time or straight after. While the Cert IV only allows PTs to provide general information based on Dietary Guidelines, combining it with our course enables you to work with both fitness and nutrition to:
2. The Diploma path
If you want to make sure nutrition is for you consider starting with our Accredited Certificate of Nutrition. Unlike other courses it has the potential to give you not just a standard attendance exemption at a diploma college, it can also provide you with a fee exemption if you opt to study with our RTO partner TBA. Once you finish the course and have sent in your open-book exam and have passed you can apply for your ASQA Statement of Attainment (a nationally recognised certificate). We have an RTO/Non-RTO agreement with TBA which means that all providers of the Advanced Diploma of Nutritional Medicine throughout Australia are legally required to give credit for the study you have already undertaken with us and this credit recognition is exempt from any RPL (recognition of prior learning) fees when you use your Statement of Attainment, for the unit 'Provide basic dietary advice' issued by TBA. Please note we are currently working on a new partnership.
3. The degree path
You can either upgrade your diploma above to a Health Science degree or apply perhaps as an adult student (you don't always need HSc to get into uni) to a university of our choice.
Questions to ask colleges
Don't be fooled by price tag and funky sounding course names; there are now dozens of courses promising all sorts of fabulous sounding careers, 'nutrition counsellor', 'weight loss counsellor', 'weight loss consultant' and much more. Most often these types of courses aren't recognised by industry bodies and as such you can find you are out of pocket several thousands of dollars and no-one will insure you to practice your 'trade'.
Career advice - not sales
Yes, we hear you! You have tried calling a few colleges and all you get is ill-informed reception staff whose main aim is to sell 'bums on seats'. If you are still stuck on where to start feel free to call us. While we believe our courses are the best, we also know they sell themselves. We promise to give you unbiased information to help you in what we know is a very big decision, no catches!
The simplest (and we are not judging it to be the easiest) way is via an Advanced Diploma of Nutrition Medicine. These are commonly offered by private colleges including:
- ### (our chosen RTO diploma partner, we like them because the really understand student support) - Partner update to be announced shortly
- Endevour Colleges - National
- Nature Care College - Sydney
- Australasian - Sydney
Most colleges offer the diploma via face-to-face, but also recognising that geography shouldn't be a limitation they also offer distance options. Now, it is important to make mention of two considerations:
- That some industry bodies don't recognised diplomas that have been gained via correspondence only. It makes sense, you really need to see actual patients and have hands on in this industry! So if you opt for distance ensure you chat to your chosen college about how many hours and subjects you should do face-to-face and how best to go about it!
- It is highly possible that in the future the minimum requirement to practice nutrition will step up to a degree. Almost all colleges offer an upgrade to a Bachelor of Health Science. Now not only might this cover you in the future, but it also opens pathways to continue on to other levels of 'nutritionist' (more on this in a tick). We recommend you discuss how many and they type of extra subjects you may be required to complete, how long this might take and the total cost.
What do you mean by different type of 'nutritionists'?
Good question. Well you will see nutritionists refer to themselves in the following ways:
- Accredited nutritionist/nutritionist - commonly diploma and/or degree qualified nutritionist who have registered with complimentary health bodies such as ATMS and ANTA.
- Associate nutritionist - Generally with an undergrad degree and at least a post graduate certificate in nutrition and is recognised by the Nutrition Society of Australia (NSA) as an 'associate nutritionist'.
- Registered nutritionist - Is the next step up from associate nutritionist. Please refer to the NSA website for further details.
- Accredited and practicing dietitian - Holding a minimum of a master in dietetics which requires over 200 clinic hours in a hospital, registration is with the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) . Dietitians are eligible for Medicare rebates given they have a thorough knowledge of hospital based nutrition. Now this is an interesting one. While it might sound like the 'gold standard' in fact you can find that some practitioners have entered a dietetics masters program from all manner of backgrounds (not just health), and have had only clinical experience within a hospital.
Our view
We have numerous nutritionists and dietitians who work with us, all with different expertise and backgrounds. And as you can see from the points above, there is no one type of 'nutritionist' that is necessarily better than the other. Instead, ensure a practitioner is registered with a body, has current insurance and try to find one who has long specialised in the area you require help with. Word-of-mouth is an excellent referral system and select a person you feel comfortable with. Don't be too swayed by the seemingly impressive long lists of qualifications someone tacks on their website or business card, you can find sometimes half of them are in fact only memberships... tricky!!!!
The only courses that allow you to use nutrition professionally apart from the ones above are:
- If you hold a Certificate IV in Fitness and complete our Accredited Certificate of Nutrition you can gain insurance to use basic nutrition with your clients (within the limits of the units of our course).
- Our Certificate of Food & Wellness Coaching (for PTs or those with a relevant backgroung)
How much study is involved in becoming a nutritionist?
We won't kid you, it is a long and costly process (of around $20,000 over three years), but for most people it is a very enjoyable one with a great reward at the end! We built our business on a single course that we knew people wanted, an inexpensive course to 'test the water', to see if they wanted to invest lots of time and money into becoming a nutritionist! The Accredited Certificate of Nutrition, which is only a few hundred dollars and 34 hours of study, remains our most popular course 14 years later!
So, here's a glimpse of what's involved in the three-year Advanced Diploma of Nutritional Medicine: Anatomy and Physiology (100+hrs), biochemistry and chemistry (100+ hours), diagnosis and pathology, pharmacology (300hrs), nutrition (400hrs), professional practice studies (160hrs), communication and counseling (30+hrs), supervised clinical training (200hrs), safe practice (15hrs), First Aid Certificate.
What about other short courses; will they allow me to work in nutrition
You will see lot's of different diploma's and certificates in nutrition and health. For example, nutrition counseling, public health, public nutrition, population health and so on and so on. Some of these courses may even be offered by RTOs and be nationally recognised providing you with a national certificate. While this is a great thing to have as it will mean you have covered a number units in a larger training package, we do suggest you consider where you want your studies to take you; what career path you want to go into. You can find more obscure courses have fairly narrow professional relevance in nutrition, discuss with the provider exactly what level of advice you can provide and what specific roles you might be able to apply for, few if any other than the diploma of nutrition allow you to practice in nutrition. Mental note to self!
Where to find out more about university?
We recommend you grab yourself a copy of the UAC guide or simply Google 'nutrition degree', there are numerous universities across Australia offering undergraduate courses.Likewise if you have a degree and are considering post graduate (for example if you want to become a registered nutritionist or accredited dietitian) google 'post graduate nutrition degrees'.
A few examples of universities to look at (and keep in mind who offers what and when changes regularly):
- Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales
- Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia
- Deakin University, Victoria
- Flinders University of South Australia
- Griffith University, Queensland
- Monash University, Victoria
- Queensland University of Technology, Queensland
- RMIT University
- University of Canberra
- The University of Newcastle, New South Wales
- University of Queensland
- University of Sydney, New South Wales
- University of Wollongong, New South Wales
Our recommendations for getting on the road to working with nutrition or becoming a nutritionist
1. Fitness path
If you are keen to tackle health from both an eating and fitness side (makes perfect sense) then consider undertaking the Certificate IV in Fitness with an approved RTO provider and completing our Accredited Certificate in Nutrition either at the same time or straight after. While the Cert IV only allows PTs to provide general information based on Dietary Guidelines, combining it with our course enables you to work with both fitness and nutrition to:
- Provide healthy eating advice
- Undertake of meal analysis
- Provide meal plans
2. The Diploma path
If you want to make sure nutrition is for you consider starting with our Accredited Certificate of Nutrition. Unlike other courses it has the potential to give you not just a standard attendance exemption at a diploma college, it can also provide you with a fee exemption if you opt to study with our RTO partner TBA. Once you finish the course and have sent in your open-book exam and have passed you can apply for your ASQA Statement of Attainment (a nationally recognised certificate). We have an RTO/Non-RTO agreement with TBA which means that all providers of the Advanced Diploma of Nutritional Medicine throughout Australia are legally required to give credit for the study you have already undertaken with us and this credit recognition is exempt from any RPL (recognition of prior learning) fees when you use your Statement of Attainment, for the unit 'Provide basic dietary advice' issued by TBA. Please note we are currently working on a new partnership.
3. The degree path
You can either upgrade your diploma above to a Health Science degree or apply perhaps as an adult student (you don't always need HSc to get into uni) to a university of our choice.
Questions to ask colleges
Don't be fooled by price tag and funky sounding course names; there are now dozens of courses promising all sorts of fabulous sounding careers, 'nutrition counsellor', 'weight loss counsellor', 'weight loss consultant' and much more. Most often these types of courses aren't recognised by industry bodies and as such you can find you are out of pocket several thousands of dollars and no-one will insure you to practice your 'trade'.
- Ask what the end result qualifies you do actually do
- What registering body recognises the course
- How much will the course cost, all up, including clinics, assessments, lab fees, student clinics and so on
- Can you apply for Fee Help
- What university does the college partner with
- How long is the degree upgrade and how much does it cost
- How the college supports your learning, what systems do they use, what libraries do you have access to, how can you contact staff and other students and so on
- What academic staff do they have and what is their background
- How many hours do you have to complete in their student clinic (and what is the cost) and how many can you do externally
Career advice - not sales
Yes, we hear you! You have tried calling a few colleges and all you get is ill-informed reception staff whose main aim is to sell 'bums on seats'. If you are still stuck on where to start feel free to call us. While we believe our courses are the best, we also know they sell themselves. We promise to give you unbiased information to help you in what we know is a very big decision, no catches!
