Advising Course Plan - Health Sciences Major - Dietitian Interest
There is a standardized exam to become a Registered Dietician (RD). Only those with Master’s degree will be able to take the RD registration exam after 2024, but the Master’s can be in any related program, not just Dietetics/Nutrition. Because of this new Master’s requirement, there is a rapidly increasing number of Master’s of Nutrition programs around the country; there are only six programs across the country at this time.
Requirements for Becoming a Registered Dietitian (RD)/Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) (NOTE: These are equivalent titles): The requirements to become a Registered Dietitian/Registered Dietitian Nutritionist include successful completion of a Didactic Program (DPD) in Nutrition and Dietetics, an undergraduate or graduate degree program, and an accredited dietetic internship program, and passing the registration exam to become a Registered Dietitian/Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. Upon successfully completing either the undergraduate or graduate degree program in Nutritional Science and the DPD, students will receive a verification of completion statement, which will allow the students to be eligible to apply for an accredited dietetic internship program. The accredited dietetic internship program composed of a minimum of 1,200 hours of supervised practice provides students with practical, direct training in several facets of dietetic practice.
After students have successfully completed the course work in a Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD) and the accredited supervised practice program (dietetic internship program), they are eligible to take the registration exam to become a Registered Dietitian/Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. Upon passing this registration exam, the students will earn their Registered Dietitian (RD) or Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) credential.
As noted previously, there are currently only 6 programs that offer the Master’s degree along with the coursework to be eligible for the Dietetic Internship and Exam. The Internship can be part of the program or separate. At present gaining acceptance into these Internships has proven difficult – only approximately 55% of all RD-eligible applicants are accepted. However, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is working to increase the availability of internships to address this problem. Projections state that by the time current undergraduates are finished with their Master’s program there will be many more openings.
Below are the six aforementioned programs that now offer Master’s degrees and on a separate document are the entry requirements for each. Course requirements vary slightly between programs, so see the websites for more detailed information; however, most will require General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Anatomy & Physiology, Microbiology, Introductory Nutrition, Introductory Psychology, Introductory Sociology, and (less consistently) Medical Terminology and Statistics.
Students interested in applying for nutrition programs may consider a minor in Chemistry as they will have to take 5 chemistry courses anyway. Therefore, they may benefit from taking one more 200 level CHEM course (and Calculus) and minoring in Chemistry. Requirements may differ from the ones below; depending on the nutrition program(s) in which you may be interested, so please make sure to look at various program requirements for different universities. We highly recommend you begin looking at universities’ requirements during your 1st year as an undergraduate to better prepare you for nutrition programs.
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Units | Spring | Units |
| BIOL 141P1,* | 1 | BIOL 142P1,* | 1 |
| PSYC 101S1 | 1 | HLSC 200V1,* | 1 |
| FSEM 100 (unless transfer student)1 | 1 | General Education requirement1 | 1 |
| HLSC 119V | 1 | MATH 141Q (required for Chemistry minor)2 | 1 |
| 4 | 4 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Units | Spring | Units |
| MATH 141Q should be taken during the fall if it has not yet been taken in First Year. | HLSC 2021 | 1 | |
| HLSC 2011 | 1 | CHEM 142P* | 1 |
| CHEM 141P* | 1 | SOCI 101S (recommended; or General Education requirement (A, B, H, L course))* | 1 |
| BIOL 301 (recommended)* | 1 | General Education requirement (A, B, H, L course)1 | 1 |
| General Education requirement (A, B, H, L course)1 | 1 | ||
| 4 | 4 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Units | Spring | Units |
| Junior seminar must be taken during this year. | HLSC 4981 | 1 | |
| HLSC 4111 | 1 | PUBH 140V | 1 |
| Junior Seminar1 | 1 | CHEM 301 (counts as 1 of 4 HLSC electives) | 1 |
| CHEM 201 (counts as 1 of 4 HLSC electives)1,* | 1 | MATH 125Q | 1 |
| Elective | 1 | ||
| 4 | 4 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Units | Spring | Units |
| HLSC 4991 | 1 | Elective1 | 1 |
| PHIL 316V | 1 | Elective (HLSC 325 recommended)1 | 1 |
| CHEM 2041,* | 1 | Elective (HLSC 303 recommended)1 | 1 |
| Elective1 | 1 | Optional for Chemistry minor requirement: CHEM 200+ level course3 | 1 |
| 4 | 4 | ||
| Total Units 32 | |||