65. Pathways into Nutrition and Tips for Nutrition Students with Nutritionist and Dietitian, Rachel Hawkins

Today's episode is a highly requested topic on pathways into nutrition and tips for nutrition students. 

I chat with Rachel Hawkins, a Sydney Dietitian & Nutritionist with a Bachelor of Exercise and Nutrition Science and a Masters of Dietetic Studies who is passionate about helping women ditch diets and adopt a more balanced approach to nutrition. Rachel is a foodie, content creator, writer, speaker and host of chart-topping podcast, NakedChats. She has an active presence in the online health space and aspires to transform the way people think about food by sharing nutrition information in a fun and relatable way. She's followed an unconventional path which you can stay up to date with via her Instagram account which is @rachelhawkinsdietitian.  

On today’s podcast, Rachel and I start with the basics of what the difference between a nutritionist and a dietitian is, we then talk about how naturopaths and nutrition coaches fit with nutritionists and dietitians and then discuss other health fields such as chiropractors and osteo’s who routinely give out nutrition advice as part of their practise and probably really shouldn’t?! We talk about the rules and regulations in the nutrition space and why there are so many so called “nutrition experts” online.  

Rachel and I then discuss what subjects younger people looking into nutrition as a career should think about doing in high school that would allow them to study nutrition at University. We talk about the benefits of studying nutrition at university/college compared to a tafe or online course and discuss the areas that nutritionists and dietitians can work in throughout Australia and also online.  

We talk about options for our listeners that don’t want to or can’t afford to go to university or college and also available options if our listeners don’t want to pursue a career in nutrition but just have a personal interest in learning for themselves.  

Finally, we end this podcast with some advice for our student nutritionists and dietitians about what they can do while they’re studying to set themselves apart, what tips we have for them as they enter the workforce, job & interview tips for our new grads listening and finally, Rachel tells us a few things she wishes she might have done differently in her career to date and a few things she is thankful and grateful for that she believes has been crucial to her success.  

If you would like to know more about Rachel, visit her at: 

Instagram: @rachelhawkinsdietitian 

Podcast: NakedChats 

Website: www.rachelhawkins.com.au 

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