Ask Dr Nerenberg | Health and Fitness

Could I become a physician or PA if i major in nutrition and become a dietician?

What are my options if I major in nutritional science with concentration in dietetics?

How long do you want to go to school? How soon do you want/need to be employed and earning your own income? Will your parents kill you if you don’t get a job right out of college? These are all important considerations!

In some states, it is easier to get into medical school than a PA program. In Maryland, the applicant to acceptance ratio for PA school is running around 30:1. Medical school is 13:1. And if you are interested in rural primary care, you can increase your chances for acceptance to medical school, since there are huge shortages of primary care physicians (PCPs) in rural areas.

Generally speaking, to become an RD, you need an undergrad degree heavy in science courses and math. Inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, lots of biology, microbiology, etc, all as pre-professional courses. Then the fun begins in a Masters’ degree program with the food sciences and clinical experiences. That’s about 6 years of higher education.

For PA programs, you now must have a BS or BA, with most of the pre-reqs for med school (and similar to the RD). Then in most PA programs, you apply for an Associate Degree program. Then you must also have a Masters’ degree, because that’s what the field now requires. That’s about 8 years of higher education, unless you can do the MS simultaneously with the AAS, as you can in some schools with dual enrollment.

Is your head spinning yet?

Okay, now there’s medical school. All the same heavy science and math pre-reqs, however, things have changed in the last few decades and med schools now accept those off-beat majors like English and History–provided you’ve completed the pre-med courses. Med school is 4 years on top of 4 years undergrad–unless you are a “whiz kid” who goes directly from undergrad into med school, skipping the senior year of school. (I don’t recommend it personally, because I the graduates I’ve seen are too immature and not ready for the heavy experiences of death and dying.)

After medical school, you’re ready for post-graduate training, aka, the residency. It’s not like Gray’s Anatomy, btw, it’s a lot of hard work and some very hands on stuff. Depending on the chosen specialty, residency training lasts from 3 years for family practice to 8 years for cardio-thoracic surgery.

If you have the aptitude for the sciences, and LOVE nutrition, become an RD. If you have the aptitude for the sciences, and thought becoming a physician was out of reach, think again. In the next 10 years, there will be a huge physician shortage, along with the nursing shortage. Your talents will be needed.

Good luck!

Depression, Anxiety, Diet & Life Style, Christine Marquette, Nutrition & Fitness

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