Question Career pathway help: Naturopathy vs dietitian

[Isabelle]

I am currently studying Endorsed Enrolled Nursing, I still have about a year left so there is no rush in my decision, but I have been looking into naturopathy which will be 4 years study but from research I understand it’s not properly accredited in Australia and is looks at as “wacky” and not financially a great option, which got me looking into dietitian which is also 4 years and seems to be more stable and respected career.


My biggest worry is I know non of these are “vegan” but obviously I would like to adjust my career, I just hate the thought of putting my time and energy into a course to be told dairy and meat is healthy.


I am considering doing a shorter plant based nutrition course, before jumping full force into my degree.


I want to be able to help and heal people using ethical vegan/plant based natural ways, rather than medications.

I plan to still keep my nursing registration once I complete my course part time/casual whilst I continue my study.


I was just wondering your thoughts, have you study any of these or something similar or had good/bad experiences when visiting these practitioners, any advice or guidance will be appreciated

 

[becky]

Generally speaking, there is more demand for a dietician than a natropath, so if you are concerned about making a living, then dietician would be the path to take.

Although, I would think nursing would take up the majority of your time.

 

[Second Summer]

My opinion:

There is a significant minority of the vegan and vegetarian population who tend to gravitate towards practices that are considered "natural", and this is also one of the pillars of naturopathy. What does "natural" mean? After doing some thinking around this subject, I've come to the conclusion it is a nonsensical term. Lots of thing are "natural", yet they're far from healthy: mould, arsenic, chlamydia ... Not everything from nature is a blessing.

Naturopathy really has no place in enlightened, educated society. I would strongly recommend against wasting time studying this on the basis it's not evidence-based medicine. I don't see it doing much good for anyone. It's "alternative facts". Let's face it, veganism needs science to win.

If on the other hand you wanted to study to become a dietician, that would be a much, much better choice. The world needs more vegan dieticians. Not that I think dieticians these days are generally negative to veganism, but it helps when the dieticians themselves are vegans.

Have you ever read Ginny Messina's blog? She's a registered dietician and author of a couple of books as well. And a vegan. Check out her blog here:
theveganrd.com