Nutrition and Dietetics

Nutrition plays a vital role in maintaining health and in the prevention and treatment of diseases. Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) are the health care professionals who translate the science of nutrition into personalized recommendations to help people prevent and manage medical conditions, such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and many more.

 

To become an RDN, students must complete required coursework as well as 1,000 hours of supervised practice from an accredited program and then pass a national examination. Required courses include those in biology, chemistry, biochemistry, medical nutrition therapy, nutrition assessment, diet selection and planning, and food service systems management.

 

At Purdue, students complete all required coursework for dietetics in the Didactic Program in Nutrition and Dietetics (DPND), and then apply to either an outside dietetics internship or the Masters of Science in Dietetics (MSD) at Purdue to complete the required masters degree and supervised practice. Upon completion of a masters and supervised practice, students are eligible to sit for the national registration examination for dietitians. Graduates from our program achieve a very high pass rate (approximately 94%) on the national registration examination compared to the nation average (approximately 67%).

 

The Purdue DPND and MSD are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND).

 

Dietetics students interested in exercise science are eligible to declare a double major with Nutrition, Fitness and Health (NFHL) during Summer Transition, Advising and Registration (STAR) or may select the Nutrition and Dietetics/Nutrition, Fitness and Health (DNFH) double major when applying to Purdue. This is a popular double major for our dietetics students, achievable in four years, adding only an additional 8-16 credit hours compared to a single major. This double major prepares students to be at the exciting interface between nutrition, dietetics, and fitness.

 

With a focus on health and nutrition, dietetics is an excellent major to fulfill the prerequisite requirements for professional health programs. The curriculum may be easily modified to meet the requirements for most professional health programs such as medicine, physician assistant, physical therapy, dentistry, public health and veterinary medicine. Students interested in this option may also consider a double major in Nutrition Science (NUSC).