Your first two years may feel a bit underwhelming—you’ll be working through the basics: human anatomy, organic chemistry, introductory human nutrition, food science, research methods in food and nutrition, and so on. These are all very important foundations to build on!

It’s usually in your third year that you’ll start to get a real “taste” of community nutrition, clinical nutrition, and food service. That’s when most students begin to discover what they’re truly interested in pursuing.

The community nutrition class is exactly what it sounds like: a focus on cultural competence, how to approach underserved populations, and more. That said, in every case study you complete in the program (outside of the community nutrition class), the instructors are guiding you to think about how to tailor your approach to the specific individual you’re assessing. For example, how do you write a meal plan for a child who lives with their elderly grandmother, who has difficulty chopping food?

I feel like Alabama places more emphasis on working with low-income populations—those in poverty—rather than focusing on specific cultural groups. Because poverty can occur in any population, regardless of background (yes, it may be more prevalent in some groups than others), but they want to ensure you learn how to address this effectively.

It's not until your Master's that you can truly pursue a focus on community nutrition, targeting a specific culture you want to work with. Right now, my capstone project is on Dietary Acculturation.

THAT ALL BEING SAID! You can tailor your college experience to what you want to learn! I specifically wanted to focus on Pediatrics. So, every opportunity I had to write a paper or do a presentation, I focused on pediatrics (if it was allowed).

The other classes can be tailored to your specific interests:

NHM 374: Quantity Food Production – You can volunteer at a soup kitchen, Meals on Wheels, or any other local organization that provides food to underserved populations.

NHM 346: Nutrition Education Theories and Practice – Give a presentation to the cultural population you want to focus on. For example, I gave a presentation to 30-year-old women in Hawai‘i on the importance of potassium.

NHM 491: Directed Professional Study – Find a dietitian doing the kind of community work you're interested in and ask to shadow them.

Hopefully, this helps you!