To want to change to this career?

[lamby12]

Posting here for traffic as no replies in the work topic..,

I am just looking for any experiences of people who work in nutrition or know anyone that does.

I'm due to return from maternity leave later this year to a job I don't enjoy. There's also little prospects to climb the ladder or earn a larger salary and now that I'm done having children I'd really like to think we could be better off as a family rather than scraping by each month. I also want to do something that excites and interests me - I'm just over 30 so I have more of my working life left than I've done so far!!

My current job is 3 days from home so I will return to it initially, I'm thinking of this as a long term plan. I'd have to do a science access course as I have a non science degree and no science GCSEs. I've found this available online. The nutrition course is a post grad degree so it's fairly expensive, though there is student finance.

On the surface the career appeals to me. I've personally researched nutrition to help my own endometriosis and infertility diagnosis. And I'm celiac. I find it fascinating the impact food can have on the body and really think proactive nutrition is the medicine of tomorrow. I'd love to specialise in endometriosis (specifically bowel endometriosis) and maybe more generally women's health and fertility. I feel that the combination of working with people, helping people's quality of life, flexibility and self employment, combined with the opportunity to have something more 'stable' as a role with doctors, nhs, education or more... really ticks all my boxes. It seems with your own clinic it can be very lucrative too, eventually.

Obviously the degree is a huge investment in time and money (it doesn't seem to be something available online only, and would be full time) I'm going to have to work my whotsits off with 2 small children as well and I don't want to make a mistake, especially with the cost of it.

Just wanting anyone in the field to come along and shed some experience / pros / cons / reality!

Thanks

I think you would have to consider what your Job will be at the end

It sounds like you are thinking of being self employed?

The difficulty with nutrition is nutritionist isn't a protected term thus for anyone who wants to set up in nutrition can, regardless of if they have degrees, or have simply once googled it. It means the market in my experience is a bit saturated with people focusing on nutrition, wellness coaching etc (primarily people in pyramid/ mlm schemes in my area like herbalife)

You would have to think of some careful marketing to not get lumped in with them

Nhs tends to use dieticians as that's the protected term, and qualification.

Would you perhaps be better training as a dietitian then you would be HCPC registered.
Apprenticeship degree with nhs might be an affordable way

feel that the combination of working with people, helping people's quality of life, flexibility and self employment, combined with the opportunity to have something more 'stable' as a role with doctors, nhs, education or more... really ticks all my boxes. It seems with your own clinic it can be very lucrative too, eventually.

Well, yes, you've just outlined a great working environment.

But you need to focus and find what job role actually meets that vision.

You seem to be mixing professional qualifications in the health and nutrician area with unprotected terms, and it's mixing between the stability of e.g. an NHS role, vs the riskier but potentially more lucrative self employed route (for which you need to establish credentials and your client base).

You really need to do some proper research here - what job ads offer the NHS role you're hinting at? what quals are mandatory vs ideal, and how much competition is there? are you near any local NHS units which offer these services e.g. a hospital?

or if it's private practice, are tehre any clinics which are hiring? or is it a rent a room type wellness centre setup where you pay a rate for shared facilities but have your own client base?

your post is a bit all over the place.

and you need to go into this with a heavier dose of realism - starting your own company (if it's self employment you're after) is not for the faint hearted, may not even be profitable in the first year or two, what about pensions and childcare, what about your local area - area you going to target local clients, what is the competition like, and so on.,..

Hi,
Your post has taken me from long time lurker to first time poster just to add my thoughts for what they're worth.
As a registered dietitian I think I can address a few of your points.

Firstly, I would strongly encourage you to retrain as a dietitian rather than a nutritionist as one is protected and held to a higher standard (and therefore wage) than a nutritionist. As it is, you're within your rights to call yourself a nutritionist now and start charging people for your advice if that is your aim.

You will need sciences but an access course can get you accepted to an undergrad dietetic degree. You'll start at band 5 but as there is a shortage of us you can expect to be a 6 within a couple of years.
As for owning your own clinic- it's much harder than you think and you will need indemnity insurance which is difficult to get as a freelancer unless you have a good few years of experience behind you. Also factor in costs for all dietitians with trade unions, insurance, development costs for CPD and HCPC registration.

As a last point if your aim is to work with 'doctors, nhs' you won't find nutritionists employed for that role unless it is in a band 3/ band 4 supportive element to which you don't need a degree and won't be able to progress beyond this band.

I won't add too much more but do feel free to ask me anything I might have missed which could be of help

Thanks for the replies everyone especially such useful information @Teisen1990

Yes I know I need to do more research which is why I'm trying to gather as much information and experience as possible - not just from Mumsnet! This was more for any anecdotal information from those in the field. And very useful!

I know that 'anyone' can call themselves a nutritionist but I was keen to do a course that would allow me to be BANT registered. Does it seem this doesn't hold as much weight as I might think? The course I've found is a PGdip/MSc. I'd do the science access, then 2 years part time PGdip after which I'm 'qualified' whilst I do an MSc in an area of interest.

I do understand the difficulties of self employed and that it's not all rosy like many think. I've run my own 'side business' in a crafting hobby for years and before starting thought it would be an income and a career but quickly realised its pennies for lots of hard work and drumming up business for anything is insanely difficult. So I do realise that I wouldn't walk out and start a clinic full of clients.

I read lots of graduate stories from the course I've found and most seem to have been very successful with a mix of own practice and educator or authoring jobs. Maybe not as successful as it seems from what people are saying?!

Thanks for the info on dietician being more regarded as a qualification, I will definitely do some more research on this.

Can a dietician also do a range of jobs in a range of places or just NHS? I know I need to do more research on the end career, I'm still considering the whole thing!

I'd do the science access, then 2 years part time PGdip after which I'm 'qualified' whilst I do an MSc in an area of interest.

The issue is it's an unregulated role - a 16 year old 1 day out of school has the same ability to practice and call themselves a professional nutritionist. You'd be studying for years and that's great if it's mostly for learning but if it is primarily to career change to a paid role which isn't a hobby business, get yourself credentials that matter and reward the years of study properly.

@a1577 I suppose I thought the fact that I'd be a 'registered' nutritional therapist with BANTs meant something in terms of credibility. Maybe this is where I'm wrong?! And therefore useful to get others views.

You can only register with the relevant body if you've done a qualification in nutrition of degree level or higher, does this not really mean much in reality?

Of course I don't want to do a qualification that turns out to be not worth the paper it's written on, I'm hoping for a career not a hobby.