The Happiness in Health

Becoming an RD

In August 2008, I embarked on a three-year journey to become a registered dietitian.

Dietetics is not my first career. I received my first degree in physics from Amherst College in 2006. After working for a few years, I decided to go back to school for dietetics (read more about that decision in the FAQs). Making the transition from physics to dietetics was not straightforward, as you might imagine. I had to start (almost) at the beginning, taking organic chemistry, biochemistry, and basic nutrition classes my first year in school. I was thrilled to be accepted into University of Connecticut‘s Coordinated Program in Dietetics after my first year; this program allowed me to skip the stressful match process for internships during my second year.

As part of the Coordinated Program, I completed my internship hours while concurrently taking classes. My classmates and I experienced real-life dietetics while in school. The posts below describe different areas in dietetics from a student’s perspective.

In June 2011, I completed all the requirements for the Coordinated Program. In July 2011, I passed the RD registration exam and became an official registered dietitian.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions! I love talking about my experiences in dietetics :)

So, what’s it like to be a registered dietitian?
Corporate Dietetics: The life of a corporate dietitian at Subway
Food Service, Long-Term Care: Food Service and the dietitian
Private Practice, Eating Disorders: Nutrition therapy for eating disorders
Private Practice, General: A day in the life of a private practice dietitian
Clinical Dietetics: A day in the life of a clinical dietitian
Nutrition Research: Nutrition research is awesome!
School Food Service: High schoolers like my food
Community Nutrition: Working with SNAP-Ed