Document Actions
Second Degree NFS Majors — Career Change To Nutrition
Hunter College increasingly finds itself addressing the needs of people who ‘discover’ nutrition after having satisfied requirements for their baccalaureate degrees in areas often far removed from nutrition. We therefore developed an alternative route of preparation for a dietetics career for this heterogeneous group of highly-motivated non-traditional students. We call it our "second degree" pathway because students are counseled to matriculate for a second undergraduate degree to complete the coursework and/or attain the competencies necessary to obtain a verification statement, which permits them to apply for a dietetic internship and eventually sit for the registration examination. Students matriculated for a second degree may complete their DPD requirements by taking a combination of MPH and undergraduate courses. While students may take all of their "second degree" coursework on the undergraduate level, we encourage them to take a combination of undergraduate and graduate courses in order that they will have completed work towards a graduate degree by the time they have completed their DPD requirements. Note that "second degree" students will not actually complete a second undergraduate degree. We counsel them to matriculate for the degree in order to register early for classes, and therefore be assured they are not closed-out of courses they need. (Students who are not matriculated register last, and therefore are often closed-out of required courses.) There are two types of "second degree" students -- those with adequate undergraduate preparation in the sciences as well as introductory foods and nutrition, and those without. See the prerequisites section. Second degree students must meet the same standards as undergraduate NFS majors and graduate students pursuing the MPH degree. Students must attain a grade of grade of B or better in every 100-level NFS course, a grade of C or better in every 300- and 400-level NFS course and every course taken in the Biology and Chemistry Departments, and a grade of B or better in every 700-level MPH course.
Required Courses
The courses you need to fulfill the requirements for the American Dietetic Association Didactic Program in Dietetics are indicated below. Completion of these courses (or their equivalent at an accredited college or university) and a baccalaureate degree are required for you to be eligible for admission into a Dietetic Internship Program leading to the Registered Dietitian (RD) credential. Students receive credits toward courses that they have taken in prior.
Curriculum Outline
Curriculum Outline for Registered Dietitian (RD) Program. Second Degree students admitted into NFS register for the following major courses in the prescribed sequence only:
Dietitic Internship Program
The dietetic internship (DI) is a supervised practice program that enables graduates to establish eligibility to write the registration examination for dietitians and to apply for active membership in the American Dietetic Association (ADA). The DI provides a minimum of 900 hours of supervised practice experience to meet the competencies for entry-level dietitians and the standards of education set forth by Commission on Accreditation in Dietetics (CADE), the accrediting arm of ADA. The Dietetic Internship is offered through the Nutrition and Food Science (NFS) and Public Health Nutrition track in the Urban Public Health (UPH) program in the School of Health Sciences - a specialized unit of Hunter which offers programs in health related professions.
