American Health Science University - Certified Nutrionist

No frills, high real world utility

By: Anonymous (Graduate) on September 12, 2006

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Value:		Technology:

Review:

This program uses a traditional "correspondence school" format, where assignments are literally mailed to the student and exams are completed and returned by mail.

This format tends to make the quality of the lessons highly dependent on the quality of the course text books. Unfortunately many book companies these days place more emphasis on color and graphics than they do on content and clarity of presentation.  There are no lectures or supplemental materials to help make up for the text shortcomings.  

However, that one flaw aside, the overall program is very thoughfully designed and fairly straightforward even for someone with a limited background in the subject matter.  

Personally I liked the self-directed nature of the study, but if you are one who needs a lot of interaction with others this may not be for you.  For me, the lack of the currently fashionable and utterly boring "discussion" with people who know even less than you do was an absolute blessing, and made the program go much faster and pleasantly.

The later courses in the series include practicums, which give you a good feel for the real life application of your earlier courses.  There also is a required 150-hour internship, which can be a problem if you aren't currently involved in the field, but they do give you quite a bit of latitude in finding an appropriate activity.  The blend of theory and application seemed well thought out and "real world" oriented. 

Although I took this program just for personal interest, this is a very economical way to obtain a legitimate credential as a health care practitioner. 

(Laws vary from state to state, so do check your state's rules first if you are planning to pursue this as a career.)