RD or Holistic?

Question

I really need help! I cannot decide between a Holistic Nutritionist or an RD. I've weighed the pros and cons. They're about equal in both. If there is any RD or Holistic Nutritionist out there, please tell me any likes or dislikes about your job (or even what your curiculum consisted of) would be so helpful to me! Thanks much! ~Vanessa

Answer 1

Well, I am an RD, but I am going into Holistic health with master herbalist training. The benefits would be, that if you do the RD first and then choose Holistics, you can always go back and take the test again to get your RD license renewed without having to re-do school. If you do it the other way around I'm pretty sure (but not positive) that you have to go back to school to fulfill the schooling and degree requirements for the RD.

As an RD, you can claim that on your qualifications as long as your license is valid. Even after you are no longer practicing dietetics through the ADA, you can still claim yourself to be a "nutritionist" (just not an RD since you wouldn't be registered), which gives you automatic creds, plus you get creds with your food science degree even if you are working in holistic health.

People generally tend to shy away from anything labeled "holistic", so if you are an RD and you happen to support holistic nutritionism, you are more likely to be looked at as being knowledgable.