Growing up, Sherry Shipskie always had an interest in food and wanted to learn more about the connection between diet and health. When her career as an event planner led to a job with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, she began to see firsthand the part that diet played in controlling this chronic disease.
After researching the career of registered dietitian online, she went back to school full time.
"I'm able to complete my master's degree in dietetics and the dietetics internship necessary to sit for the registered dietitian's exam at the same time at Georgia State," Shipskie said. "I'm really happy about the career I've chosen. It's unique and dynamic."
You don't have to think past the daily headlines to realize that. We're bombarded by information about food, nutrition and disease every day. Much of it seems conflicting and confusing.
"It's a constantly changing field," said Dea Baxter, Ph.D., RD, LD, associate professor in the department of nutrition at Georgia State University. "What we know today may not be true tomorrow, but there's also a lot of mixed messages and misinformation out there, because almost anyone who knows anything about food can call themselves a nutritionist or nutrition expert. That's a far cry from being a registered dietitian."
A registered dietitian must have earned a bachelor's degree in nutrition, completed a 900- to 1,000- hour internship in the field and passed the national credentialing exam by the American Dietetic Association. Georgia State is one of five colleges in Georgia that prepares students to be registered dietitians.
Growing out of early home economics departments at land-grant colleges, the curriculum has become much more science-based, with students taking courses in anatomy and physiology, biology, chemistry, food science, medical nutrition therapy and the organization of food service systems, among others.
"A registered dietitian is an important part of the health care team, fighting disease from both a prevention and a treatment model," Baxter said. "Our training prepares us to work in many settings and to be a valuable resource in hospitals, outpatient clinics, home health care, sports nutrition clinics, community and corporate wellness programs, food service and restaurant management, public health, the food manufacturing industry and in private practice."
As an intern, Shipskie has taught a freshman nutrition course, worked with Project Open Hand's HIV/ AIDS patients and helped dietitians prepare Meals on Wheels menus for seniors. She's completing a management program for Type II diabetes as her master's project.
"I'm interested in everything from food management to helping food companies make healthier products, but I hope to start my career by working in a hospital, where I'll gain a lot more experience," she said.
Dietitians working in hospitals do everything from overseeing the food service to calculating formulas of nutrients for critical care patients to motivating diabetics or heart patients to change their lifestyles. "For someone interested in a helping career in health care, this job offers growing opportunities," Baxter said.
March is National Nutrition Month and this year's American Dietetic Association campaign is called "get a taste for nutrition." To learn more, visit www.eatright.org.