Exploring Health Professions

Nutrition

Most people trained in nutrition become laboratory scientists (biochemistry, physiology, etc.) or go into dietetic counseling. Here at Tufts, the School of Nutrition and associated faculty also offer many other courses of study on such topics as world hunger in relation to international development, nutrition policy/program design and implementation, primary health care, health communications and social marketing, domestic hunger, the food industry and government regulation, and the management of famine and other humanitarian disasters (Ethiopia, Somalia, Rwanda). In addition, there are courses on agriculture, food, and the environment.

As this list implies, there are careers in "nutrition" that transcend the parochial. Graduates of the School of Nutrition, for example, work in the areas of child survival, community development, agriculture and food security, and famine mitigation internationally and, on the domestic front, in the food industry, government agencies, congressional committees, and public organizations. Leading employers include the private voluntary agencies (CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, PLAN International, etc.), UN agencies (UNICEF, FAO, WHO especially), the World Bank, and the Agency for International Development (where the Office of Nutrition is being incorporated into the larger Office of Health), plus a plethora of domestic agencies and programs (FDA, WIC, food stamps, etc). Most careers assume at least a Master's degree.

For further information concerning courses, career opportunities, and appropriate -- and inappropriate -- graduate training please contact the School of Nutrition, 132 Curtis Street on the Medford campus (phone 627-3223). Also contact the American Society for Nutritional Sciences, http://www.nutrition.org/

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