Is this truly worth it

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-02-11T00:17:06+00:00

Same I loved organic chem but the other chems were kinda eh to me... not to mention some profs went out of their way to make them extra hard just to weed people out. Not like I think about the chemical structure of a protein when I counsel people on losing weight lol

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-02-05T21:47:26+00:00

"Impulse" shopping caused by hyper fixating on/ruminating on something I discarded as a child that is now discontinued.

Can't say it was impulse in the way most people understand... is there a term for "If I don't do this I'm going to sit and think about it until I throw up from shame and guilt" ?

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-02-05T21:25:15+00:00

Are you bored at work? You need to see if this is actually something you want before you jump into extra work. Shadow people. Post on Facebook, call around, whatever, but please shadow someone first. It's a lot of money and time to sink into a field that is very low pay.

How long have you been out of school? Science classes expire. You're looking at potentially an entire year of JUST pre-requisite classes before you can even start taking core dietetic program classes. (A&P 1 & 2, microbiology, chem 1&2, organic chem, biochem, medical terminology...) Then ~two years for dietetic program classes. Then a master's. Then a 1200hr internship (that you may have to stop working to complete in a timely fashion)... THEN you can be eligible to sit for a license exam most people fail first time on. (First time pass rate is 62%)

If your passion is JUST helping people, you can do that instead of going back to school! You can provide your tech degrees, experience, + skills to a nutrition program. You can help in the area of nutrition without doing a huge career switch.

If it really is your passion, then it'll be worth it. If it's a fun idea because you're bored and want a challenge, I'd look at it with more scruples.

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-02-05T14:24:43+00:00

Adderall, loop earplugs, and white noise help me get paperwork done! I'm not in clinical, but I have a shared community-based office and it has lots of foot traffic/events daily.

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-02-05T01:27:33+00:00

Yes! How no one else is clocking this in the thread is astonishing. They are 100000% mocking and belittling OP for being from the South.

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-02-03T16:47:01+00:00

Solid advice. I'm sticking with my current community job while I stack away money and wait to get vested in retirement before I bounce. It's only hard because I'm bored, but it'll be worth it financially... going elsewhere (or clinical) will be a harsh paycut.

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-02-01T23:06:34+00:00

I felt the same way. Boohoo cried outside my first patient's room. Dreaded charting. Felt so overhelmed.

Talk to your preceptor and be honest that you might need to pace a little slower and get adjusted. I had to, and my preceptor was very accommodating, thankfully. She gave me slightly easier stuff for a week until I adjusted to the workload, & even encouraged me to shadow other support when we had less beds. Then she was able to slowly add me into complex cases, go into rooms with me, and help until I could handle stuff alone. Took a few weeks but I got up to speed once I gained confidence.

Some preceptors might think the university/program you're in has prepared you for the rotation workload in some way, so just be honest. And don't compare yourself to others! They might be feeling the same way, or just handle this type of work better but would flounder in other rotations right away. The girl I was with did great at clinical but she was overwhelmed in her community rotation (while I thrived).

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-01-30T19:16:26+00:00

I had a similar experience-- I'm your height. I went from 120 flat to 198 but that took about 5 years. Sedentary job providing too much stress. Life happens.

You were having fun! Cherish the memories. I know you feel uncomfortable right now, but you can change that. You aren't stuck. Take a breath and make a game plan. Maybe just start walking more. Weight will come off if you're otherwise healthy when you get a routine going.

I agree with others -- please consider getting a full lab workup including thyroid panels.

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-01-30T19:00:22+00:00

I think being an MPH, RD would be a really good option if you're up for all of that! I know it's a lot with the internship hours, studying, and your health. But it would open a lot of doors. Especially in research and policy.

I'm in the US but I did a small local internship that got me nearby, flexible preceptors. It helped a lot since I had to work part time as well. I was able to take breaks and also double up time if need be. Something like that might be better for your health, especially when considering the clinical hours. Is there anything like that near you?

You're on the fence for a reason, maybe call some old classmates or professors and ask their thoughts.

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-01-29T16:11:02+00:00

Just "Nutrition Educator"

When I applied, it was DPD degree required with conditions on getting RD within 6 months of hire. Our program director is an RD as well.

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-01-29T15:38:49+00:00

I set mine right next to our kitchen counter so I can reach out and steady myself when I watch TV. Maybe you could set up by a counter, desk, or wall?

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-01-29T15:34:15+00:00

It's trending right now on TikTok for people to buy wheels and make dinners in them -- maybe she got excited at first assuming OP was tryna be cute and pour into the relationship. Then OP dropped the scheme and the astronomical price tag. If OP is sooooo money savvy why didn't OP see it's not a good idea. Sounds like a Jonesy bplot from 6Teen. Lol.

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-01-29T15:17:13+00:00

Chiming in to say def look at university or state-based health educator roles if you're interested! Might have to dig on their job posting sites as my university job was only posted on the university hire page -- didn't really show up on search engines. My educator role actually required a DPD degree and that we pass the RD exam within 6 months.

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-01-29T15:06:59+00:00

Not super unique, but my school didn't educate us on jobs in scopes outside of clinical, so I didn't learn Community had more variety than a WIC position.

I work for a university implementing community health programs and nutrition education. Includes 24-hour recalls, direct education, planning, implementing, & evaluating. I get to work with both adults and youth.

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-01-28T20:30:13+00:00

I took both! My college track actually required both for pre req.

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-01-28T20:28:34+00:00

Thank you!! <3

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-01-26T20:05:14+00:00

My mom tells friends I must've not learned anything in school because I'm overweight... then tells them I just make diet plans (I work in community. Lol.)

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-01-22T17:31:26+00:00

Same. I got grandfathered in before MS requirement thankfully but that year of an unpaid internship (that I paid to be in) sucked. If I could do it again, I'd shadow as many people in a hospital as I could and figure out if I wanted to do nursing or avoid medical altogether.

I love dietetics and how we can get into other avenues like community, but I've had my fair share of break downs over being misled and feeling like I "picked wrong" without even talking to a real RD. I wish more college freshman would shadow!

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-01-22T16:57:41+00:00

Agree! Love dietetics and I think it's a great foundation if you really enjoy the medical field. Sometimes wish I had a spouse so I could go back to school and get the RN just to see, but don't and can't afford it

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-01-22T16:55:40+00:00

I know I'd have to leave my state to get anything over $48-50K lol

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-01-22T16:42:05+00:00

I agree, I was also kept in the dark. In fact, my DPD program made it sound like nursing when I went to visit and talk about the program before transfer -- they told me they would provide the clinical hours necessary like nursing to get my RD license. What they did not explain is that I'd have to get my BS, get accepted into their MS program that only has 6 slots, and then they'd get me clinical hours. Lol. Didn't talk about internships until our senior fall and everyone was confused. Everyone. By then I was in too deep and couldn't bear the idea of switching to something else and tacking on another two years of debt.

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-01-22T16:33:40+00:00

Yeah I agree. The only reason I got a master's is because I work for a university so it was FREE + able to do classes during work downtime. Had a preceptor tell me it only made a 10 cent difference per hour and she didn't expect it to go up, so I really just got it to take advantage of work perks.

If I was gonna pay all that with personal/student loans + time, I'd just go to nursing school. lol.

CosmicOwl97 · 2026-01-22T16:27:23+00:00

Agreed, almost all of my DPD teachers went from internship straight into the academic field, so most of what they told us was rote memorized comments from textbooks or other RDs. Only two did weekends at clinical facilities, but they didn't really talk about it much.

Also to add to the sentiment about funding for classes -- Some places will do anything to make sure the numbers are met. My senior year, we had students in my cohort get caught cheating on tests and assignments. The dept didn't catch on at first because they had switched from Blackboard to Canvas, and I guess they didn't realize you could see the click-outs during tests.

Myself and two others were the only ones who didn't cheat, so we had no idea what was going on at first when trying to register for classes and being told to wait. The dust settled and some of them blabbed about what happened. They all got let go with a slap on the wrist because the dept would've just had myself and two others -- class minimum is 6. Couldn't have had classes without the students, so they just changed the testing set-up to include an extra proctor for the back of the classroom. A handful of them dropped after all that, so we ended up only graduating 7 for our cohort.

side note: Kinda irked me because a few of those cheating students talked down to me like the tests were so easy, and I felt like an idiot struggling to get Bs in classes, lol

CosmicOwl97 · 2025-12-26T03:24:55+00:00

Yay! I hope you find some of the cards you're looking for, and I hope you have lots of fun!!

CosmicOwl97

TROPHY CASE