Ep. 74 - What is the Nutritional Science and Dietetics major?

In Episode 74 of the CSUSB Advising Podcast, Matt Markin chats with Dr. Dorothy Chen-Maynard about the B.S. in Nutritional Science and Dietetics. Dr. Chen-Maynard gives an overview of the major, what students are learning in their classes, career options, and more! 

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Transcript

Hi, this is Matt Markin, an academic advisor here at Cal State San Bernardino. And welcome back to the CSUSB advising podcast. We are at episode 73. And today we have special guest, Dr. Dorothy Chen, professor and program coordinator of Nutritional Science and Dietetics. And we're going to learn more about this major. So Dr. Chen, welcome.

Thank you, Matt. Pleasure being here talking to you about my Nutritional Science and Dietetics major.

Yes, absolutely. So can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your path into higher ed? 

Sure. So I did my undergraduate at University of Southern California and biology major. And then I did my masters at Cal State LA, and then Foods and Nutrition Program. And then I did my internship to become a registered dietitian it at the Children's Hospital, university affiliated program. And then I worked for a few years as a adjunct at Cal State LA Cal State, Long Beach and Mount St. Mary's College. And I also worked as a dietitian in the San Gabriel Regional Center. So I work with children and adults with the developmental disabilities. And then I went back for my PhD at UC Davis, and have my PhD in the nutritional science and metabolism. So and then I started here at Cal State San Bernardino in 1992. So I'm starting my 32nd year, and I really love this campus and our students and our major. 

Yeah, and I think if anyone listening to this gets to meet you, in person, you know, I've witnessed at orientation, how you really make sure that your students know the major, they understand requirements, they feel like they're walking out, and they leave orientation, knowing like, this is the school I want to go to. And this is the major and I know I have someone that I can always reach out to if I ever have questions. So I'm glad that this worked out to have you on so that way a lot of other students can be able to learn from you. So how would you describe the BS in Nutritional Science and Dietetics?

Well, the the this is a bachelor degree that allows you to get the background knowledge that you need for the to become a registered dietitian. And if students decided that they are not ready to pursue the Registered Dietitian, they can take the exam to become a technician registered or the new name is nutrition and dietetic technician registered, so NDTR. And so but a lot of our students use the NDTR as like a stepping stone to get experience to make some money and then they come back and they can complete their internship to take the registration exam to become a dietitian. Now starting January 1, 2024, to become a registered dietitian, one also has to finish a master's degree. And so as a result of that, our department has started offering Master of Nutrition and Sciences in the fall of 2023. And then we incorporate that with the internship program or what we call a supervised practice. And then when they finish in two years with a master's degree, then they can sit for the registration exam to become a registered dietitian. So again, it adds another layer. But at least with a bachelor degree, when the students received the verification statement, they can then work as a NDTR and then they can do the master's degree in the evening with the supervised practice. So there are a lot of different options that we can work with our students to get them through to become a registered dietician. 

And generally speaking, you know, what are students? What might they be learning in, in their classes?

Oh, it's a two year program after you finish your biology classes like anatomy, physiology, microbiology, and then one year of chemistry, general, organic and biochemistry. So and then with that, within that two years, the first year you learn the foundation, knowledge of the Nutrition Dietetics and food science. And then the second year, that's where you start applying the knowledge that you learned in your first year into the professional application. So we do a lot of case studies, we learn a lot of integration of materials. So it does require a lot of critical thinking skills just because as a dietitian, you may know the book knowledge, but each patient has a special need and especially require special care. So it allows the dietitian to have that control over how they want to share with what the patient's needs are, and what the information they need to share with. So it's a very practical profession. And not only you're going to be using that knowledge in with your patients, but it's something you can apply every day to your own personal life as well as with your family and friends. 

Definitely, do you find that there's any misconceptions one might have when they hear Nutritional Science and Dietetics as a major? 

Well, you know everybody knows something about nutrition, whether they affect you, Alana. And so we teach our students science and evidence base facts. So when you go to the internet, and you can look up anything, but how do you know whether that information is science based, or evidence based, right? Because anybody can claim to have the knowledge of nutrition, and we all eat food. So food is very much linked with nutrition. And so what we do as dietitians is that we use food as medicine, in many ways to try to control the symptoms of the diseases. So for example, diabetes, it's a big disease, and it affects many people in the United States, especially type II. So with the type II diabetes, it can be totally controlled by lifestyle change, and by the way you eat, as well as what you eat. And, you know, with the weight loss, it helps to control the blood glucose better as well. So that's what we do, we work with food, we work with lifestyle, and then we try to incorporate all of that into hopefully people who are going to be going into the, for the treatment of the diseases, you know, you pills are easy to do. But lifestyle changes are a little bit hard. So as far as myths go, people think that you know, I could just take a pill and I can control my diabetes, but on the long run, when you use food, and when you control your lifestyle, it makes your life a lot easier. 

And let's say students listen to this. And they're like, This really sounds like a very interesting majors something maybe I want to do, but maybe I'm on the fence of declaring this as my major, do you have any advice for that student?

Well, I would say nutrition is a background that you can use for any allied health profession. So if you understand how the food, how the nutrients, how, how you can use all that into disease prevention, as well as to treat diseases, you know, you're way a step ahead of every average American. So I would say, you know, it's one of those that if you're thinking of going into any Allied Health, or any medicine, or dental or pharmacy, or even, you know, to become a dental hygienist, all of those knowledge can be applied. So it's a good foundation degree, that you can take it to the next step, and build on that to get yourself a great profession that you want to go to.

So definitely, then career wise, it's something that if a student's doing this major, and if they decide, you know what, maybe they don't want to go on to the masters and maybe go to become a dietitian, they have a wide range of different career paths they can go into.

Right. And so the thing is that you're in the undergraduate degree in the dietetics, you not only learn about the medical nutrition therapy, you also learn about community nutrition. So if you do want to go and work in the public health setting, that allows you to do that as well. And then we also train our students to work in the school nutrition. So if you want to go work in the US Food Service, in the nutrition field, you can do that with or without rd, but you can definitely have more advantage with a registered dietician. And so one of the other thing that is also a good our students can get into is they can become certified dietary manager or they can become a food service manager as well. So there are a lot of career and opportunities related to food and everybody has to eat so, right?

And for students that are in the major, does your department offer any resources to help them during their time at Cal State San Bernardino? 

Well, the biggest resource you have is me, right? I am your academic mom, as I always tell my students, so you know anything You need to help you to be successful where there and our faculty are very student centered and very student focus. And so the main thing is that again, you know, we do have some scholarship available for our major, as well, as, you know, our office staff are also very supportive. And so we we are, we are there for our students. And so I think anything we could do to help or to, for our students to be successful, where they have the resources, well, the main thing is that, you know, we teach you how to cook, and that you learn about different cultures. So you can work in any environment here in Southern California, or even worldwide. And as far as career options go, whether you're ready to go into become a registered dietitian now, or maybe three or four years down the road, it is outweighs that possibility. So maybe after five years, you may, some students may have to come back and retake some of the classes. But otherwise, you know, the gap years are great. And some of our students go into Peace Corps to learn more about, you know, some of the world nutrition issues and what they can do to help people around the world. So, yeah, resources are there. It's just a matter of, you know, students asking, or we can provide you with what information you may need to be successful. 

Absolutely. Well, a lot of great information that you were able to share on this episode about the major so Dr. Dorothy Chen-Maynard. Thank you so much. 

Thank you very much, Matt. And it was very nice chatting with you.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai