Denice Ferko-Adams, MPH, RD, LDN: 

“The dietetic science courses focus on YOU.”

Having changed majors three times before deciding on a career in dietetics, I enjoyed the dietetic science courses because they focus on YOU.  You will learn how your body uses food to control and prevent disease.  Most of the science courses have information that you will use every day, whether frying an egg (cooking is a science, too!) or presenting to a group on how to

control type 2 diabetes.  The dietetics science courses provided me with the skills to enjoy a varied career in food, nutrition and wellness.

Denice Ferko-Adams, MPH, RD, LDN

denice@wellnesspress.com

President, Wellness Press

Speaker, Author & Wellness Consultant

Please read more about Denice Ferko-Adams in the “RDs/DTRs in the News,” and “PA Authors” features.)

Back to Science Article

Denise Fernandes, Dietetic Intern, Marywood University:

 “Understanding science opens doors to understanding others as well as yourself.”

“Science is complicated… Allow yourself to open up each chapter and turn the pages to learn something new… Understanding science opens doors to understanding others as well as yourself.”

Elizabeth.I. Gebhardt, Student, Drexel University:   

“I realized no science classes were as difficult to face as a lifetime in a career I didn't like.”

I felt the exact same way when I was in high school.  That is why I chose to get my first college degrees in other fields.  However, after seven years in the workforce I realized that no science classes were as difficult to face as a lifetime in a career I didn't like.  Science is challenging, but it's vital to our field.  If you're interested in dietetics but not enough to challenge yourself with science classes, maybe you aren't ready.  If you truly love dietetics, though, the sacrifice is definitely worth the rewarding field.

Elizabeth.I. Gebhardt

Drexel University

elizabeth.i.gebhardt@drexel.edu

Back to Science Article

Christine Gerbstadt, MD, RD: 

“The science focus in nutrition is on how the foods affect health.”

“Dietetics is strongly based on science but every dietitian doesn't have to be a science wizard or researcher.  Registered Dietitians help people understand science so that they can eat a healthier diet.  This does require a basic knowledge of human physiology and taking science courses, but the focus is on how the foods affect health.  It is applying science for a very practical and basic need "food".

Christine Gerbstadt, MD, RD

National Spokesperson American Dietetic Association

Crgerbstadtmd@aol.com

www.NutronicsInc.com

Back to Science Article

Cheryl Gamber, RD, LDN: 

“You need a science background to translate scientific information understandable by the public.”

“Math is involved to the level it's required for science curriculum.  While I agree that it's important to not discourage anyone because of the science requirements, I think it's misleading for them to not realize that this is a technical major.  Many of us involved in educating the public spend our careers translating scientific information into language understandable by the public.  The science is one of the main reasons I transferred into nutrition in college - after excelling in it in high school and realizing that my original journalism major was not going to provide that challenge of higher level science courses.”

Cheryl Gamber, RD, LDN

Registered Dietitian, Weis Markets, Inc.

cgamber@weismarkets.com

717-542-8688

Click here to read Cheryl Gamber’s “career summary”.

Jaime Cimochowski, Dietetic Intern, Marywood University: 

“ The sciences that you need to learn are used everyday in the field to make a dietitian credible.”

 “I would say that the unlike a lot of classes where you don’t use the information, the sciences that you need not only act as a base for future classes but are used everyday in the field to make a credible dietitian.”

Back to Science Article

Chad Edwards, MS, RD, LDN: 

“I am in the middle, explaining how to find out the amount of carbohydrate in a serving of food using the Nutrition Facts label.”

This picture was taken during National Nutrition Month 2005 in the lobby of Temple University Children's Medical Center.  The dietitians and the occupational therapy department joined forces to provide an information day focusing on nutrition and exercise.  I am in the middle, explaining how to find out the amount of carbohydrate in a serving of food using the Nutrition Facts label.  The woman on the left was one of our interns/now current staff and the man to the right was a PCA/nurse who was interested in how much carbohydrate different foods had.

Chad Edwards, MS, RD, LDN

Chad.Edwards@tuhs.temple.edu

Clinical Dietitian, Temple University Hospital

Philadelphia, PA

Click here to read Chad Edwards’s “career summary”.

Back to Science Article

Julie Stefanski, RD, CDE, LDN: 

“As a certified diabetes educator, it's important to understand how different components of food like carbohydrates, protein, and fats turn into blood sugar in the body.  Helping a client to read and interpret a nutrition facts label can help them to plan meals which are better metabolized in their bodies.

Julie Stefanski, RD, CDE, LDN

Certified Diabetes Educator

stefanski96@suscom.net

Margaret Bogle, RD: 

“The challenge here is translating the science of food and nutrition into terms that children can understand.”

This picture was taken on a field trip of preschool children in the Delta area of Arkansas.  It was a part of a class on identifying fruits and vegetables.  In this case they had talked about pumpkins (this was just before Thanksgiving) and what foods or dishes with pumpkin that they liked.  Most of them thought that pumpkin came from a can.  So it was such fun to see them with the real thing out in the pumpkin patch.  The owner let each child select a pumpkin to take home with them for carving, eating or whatever.  It was not unusual for the children to pick a pumpkin so big that they needed help in carrying it out of the patch.

The challenge here is translating the science of food and nutrition into terms that children can understand.  We talked about the color of the pumpkins and how that related to the taste of the pumpkin.  We talked about other foods that had colors similar to pumpkins with which they were familiar: carrots, sweet potatoes, etc.  We even let the children taste small portions of the pumpkin raw, as many foods, including pumpkin, do not have as strong taste raw as when cooked.  The other concept for the preschool children was to talk about the shape of the pumpkin.   Both colors and shapes were part of their classroom activities at the time.  Many dietitians shy away from teaching children, but I find I have the most fun with groups like this, because they truly look to you as being the expert.

This is a typical activity of mine associated with the Lower Mississippi Delta Nutrition Intervention Research Initiative (Delta NIRI) of which I am the Executive Director.   

Margaret Bogle, RD

Executive Director

Lower Mississippi Delta

Nutrition Intervention Research Initiative (Delta NIRI)

Back to Science Article

Tammy Mathews, Dietetic Intern, Marywood University: 

“It’s not like taking a theology class that you really wouldn’t use.”

“At least the courses are used in the field; it’s not like taking a theology class that you really wouldn’t use.  But if the student is really put off by Science courses, then maybe dietetics isn’t the field for them: it’s all science related and will be a part of their daily life in school and once they get a job.”

Rachel Harken, MS, RD, LDN: 

“If you don’t do well in high school science, try them at the college level.”

“You need to understand how important science is. You definitely need to have a good background in biology and chemistry and then the advanced sciences (biochemistry, nutrition and metabolism, etc.) to understand nutrition well. If students don't do well in the sciences in high school, they can always try them at the college level.”

Rachel Harken, MS, RD, LDN

rachelharken@msn.com

Part-time Instructor

Mercy Hospital School of Nursing

Click here to read Rachel Harken’s “career summary”.

Back to Science Article

Kellie L. Nadeau, Student, LaSalle University: 

“If a high school/middle school student was concerned about the science aspect in the nutrition core I would make sure they know that it is no different from a history class or English class.  As long as you work hard, it’s no sweat!  I was never a real science geek in high school or middle school but am doing very well in the program here at LaSalle.”

Back to Science Article

Lorraine Matthews, MS, RD, LDN: 

“People don't realize how much science dietitians  know.”

I think that lots of people don't realize how much science dietitians know.  I remember seeing a public service announcement for nursing education that said something to the effect that if caring was enough, anyone could be a nurse.  The gist of the message was nurses are real professional and the curriculum is tough.

“The dietetic educational program can prepare you for so many things - even if you end up not being an RD. I can't think of a better preparation for medical school.”

I have run into more than a few people who are somewhat surprised that dietitians take biochemistry, microbiology, etc.  Not sure why, but some still seem to think of us as glorified cooks.  Even though there is always room for improvement, I think that the dietetic educational program is a great one and can prepare them for so many things - even if you end up not being a RD.  (I can't think of a better preparation for medical school for example.)

Regarding math -- it's seems to be more of a gender thing, but I have had so many students over the years who are uncomfortable with arithmetic kinds of problems, and they just cringe when I give them budgeting kinds of problems.  They are bright young women -- they just tend to assume that they can't do math.  (I teach some "nutrition" courses - life cycle, community, but I regularly teach the management courses). 

(Editor’s Note: There may be hope for students to be more comfortable with mathematics in the future.  Haven’t schools tried to stamp out gender-based education experiences, focusing on improving the mathematics abilities of female as well as male students?)

One of my recurring soapboxes is that dietitians should be better managers - no matter what part of the field they are in - and that includes knowing where the money comes from, how much, and how it is spent.  I included a little of this in Community this past fall also.  (I always told them that my primary job with the Health Department was to scrounge money and keep people from killing each other.)  I get upset when they have no idea what-to-take-into-what to get the percent of change in a budget (so they might also have some problems with some clinical figures as well), or they can't take a simple formula and work backwards.  (Dotti Koteski, MS, RD, Community College of PA, always says, "It's those darn calculators - they don't think.")

Lorraine Matthews, MS, RD, LDN,

PADA Political Action Committee Chair

LEMAT7914@aol.com

Nutrition and Food Management Consultant

Back to Science Article

David S. Struse, Student, LaSalle University: 

“The science courses involved with nutrition are actually applied sciences.”

 “The science courses involved with nutrition are actually applied sciences that basically reinforce the basis of what a dietetics student would learn in their core nutrition classes. Students learn the structural basis of basic macronutrients throughout their study of organic and biochemistry.  Anatomy courses help reinforce the process of the gastrointestinal tract as well as how ingested foods are processed and how those digested resources are used overall throughout the body. Do these classes seem cumbersome to you?  But, the student tends to become more comfortable with seeing chemical structures and gains basically a background of what they are studying in nutrition courses, which then hone in on the daily values, the etiquette (food election/preparation, and cultural application (community nutrition) of nutrition itself.”

Back to Science Article

Janet K. Little, MPH, RD, LDN: 

“Reach out to fellow students.”

I knew nutrition was not an easy major.  And, I knew I was average in algebra, I did better in science and much better in the liberal arts.  BUT, I wanted to be a Registered Dietitian.  The pleasant surprise was I did better in organic chemistry and biochemistry than inorganic chemistry!  Maybe because they are geometric and geometry was my best subject in high school, the single year we took it.  But, I also had help.  I was friendly with a classmate, a former Food Consumer Science teacher, who was in graduate school earning a master’s degree in nutrition science.  She made biochemistry understandable to me and it just clicked; I aced the final exam after coming into it with a C+-average. Since the average final test score was 50%, I aced the course, too.  I was able to do well in the next biochemistry course and the nutrition science classes thereafter.  So, you might be better in science than you think.  Also, I often asked the professors questions.  These were formidable professors who authored the very textbooks we were assigned.  The science courses were also is very intriguing and amazing.  We extracted DNA in biochemistry lab and I never again watched a loaf of bread rise without remembering how it could do that. 

I am convinced having a science background is useful for everyone, even if you never major in a science-based field.  So, don’t worry about grades so much you miss out on giving yourself a chance. Make sure you understand the material right away, don’t procrastinate and wait until the night before the exam.  Then, make the decision to major in nutrition.

Janet K. Little, MPH, RD, LDN

Nutrition Consultant

Click here to read Janet's “career summary” and Click here to read about Janet's business ventures.

Back to Science Article

Irene Berman-Levine, PhD, RD: 

“Determine if you like the final job.”

“If you are not sure about the sciences and you still did well in high school, then you might still want to consider the field of nutrition IF you are sure you like the final job.  I would suggest talking to (or visiting) Registered Dietitians in several situations such as hospitals, public health clinics, (such as WIC), offices of dietitians’ in private practice and nursing homes.  Determine if you like the final job.  If you like the final job, just be ready to work hard in college on the science. You can still have rewarding careers by going the direction of food service management.” 

Irene Berman-Levine, PhD, RD

Toyaddict@aol.com

Read more about Irene Berman-Levine in the “RDs/DTRs in the News,” and “PA Authors.”

 Back to Science Article

Copyright© 2009, Pennsylvania Dietetic Association
Page Last Updated: March 9, 2008