So you are elbow deep in your studies at a school for holistic nutritionists. As you get closer to completing your diploma in holistic nutrition, you may begin to wonder what your career is going to look like going forward. Also, you may want to firgure out how to choose an area of clinical focus as a Holistic Nutritionist.
There are many different career opportunities for nutritionists, but it is most common to start as a holistic nutritionist in private practice.
Sometimes referred to as an area of special interest, your clinical focus is an important decision that will impact your career for many years to come. Today we will have a look at some of the factors to consider which will help you make a decision.
What Is An Area Of Clinical Focus?
As a holistic nutritionist, your area of clinical focus is your special interest. For instance, if you are interested in fitness you may choose sports nutrition as an area of focus. If you like working with kids and families, than pediatric nutrition might be the right fit. Or, perhaps you want to learn about ways to help clients struggling with health issues, such as cancer.
Your area of clinical focus will be determined by the type of clients and issues that you prefer to work with.
Why Choose An Area Of Clinical Focus?
When you are just starting out on your journey to become a holistic nutritionist, you may be asking why you need to choose an area of clinical focus. You may feel excited about this new career path you’re about to take, and wonder why you can’t try to “do it all”, be a generalist who helps everyone. And you can! Absolutely.
But even from the three examples given in the previous section, it’s easy to see that areas of focus can vary significantly. In addition, people looking for the help of a holistic nutritionist probably have a specific area they’re looking for assistance with. Some will walk into your clinic just for the sake of seeing a nutritionist.
Many others will have a specific issue they want help with, and having an area of focus will help them to seek you out. Plus, it helps guarantee that you can spend more time with clients in your area of focus.
How To Choose A Holistic Nutrition Area Of Clinical Focus
Let’s look at some of the factors you’ll want to consider when choosing your area of focus. Because “this sounds interesting” is a great starting point, but there’s more to it than that.
1. Research What’s In Demand
No matter how much you love doing something, one important factor is the question “what do people need?”
Even if you have an area you absolutely love, it will be hard to make a career out of it if there is no demand for people with your skills and knowledge. Think about the market you want to work in. If you’re hoping to get a job in a clinic, what are employers looking for?
If you want to market your own private practice, what sort of health conditions are predominant in your area?
Is there a growing field of interest you hadn’t considered?
2. Consider What Interests You
Most people pick a career or area of study because they have an interest in it. This goes beyond just deciding you want to switch careers to pursue becoming a holistic nutritionist. After all, there are likely certain areas of the field you find more interesting than others and this is important!
You are more likely to be successful in an area in which you are genuinely interested. If you are interested in cellular biology, for example, you might consider focusing on the type of solutions you can provide through live and dry blood cell microscopy.
Similarly, if heart disease runs in your family, it might be exciting for you to be able to help others by using holistic nutrition to manage heart disease.
3. Consider What Does NOT Interest You
Just as it is important to consider your interests when choosing an area of focus, considering the ones that aren’t appealing is just as important. If you find something boring, or it doesn’t spark something in you to want to learn more, then choosing it as an area of focus is going to mean you’re less invested in your work.
4. Consider What You’re Actually Good At
Have you shown proficiency in a particular area of nutrition?
Maybe you’re good at using holistic nutrition for helping athletes, by creating eating plans to help them achieve peak performance. Or perhaps you want to help people with digestive issues improve their health. If you’re getting higher marks in certain classes than others, it might be a sign that one of these is worth pursuing as an area of clinical focus.
5. Consider The Competition In Your Area
When you look at the job postings in the area you want to work in, do you keep seeing requests for the same areas of interest?
Do you know if there is a particular demand for a certain area to look for?
Is your region saturated with people who have a certain skillset?
These will all be things to consider when choosing your area of clinical focus. If everyone in your area is trying to do the same thing, this could work against you. At the same time, it might be due to high demand, so you’ll need to sort out which one it is.
6. Remember — You Can Work With Clients Who Do Not Fall Into Your Area Of Focus
It is important to note that you do not have to limit yourself to only one type of client. If a client is suffering from a different condition, but is referred to you and you feel you can help them, go for it. It is important to continue your studies so that you can work with clients outside of your specialty.
When you pursue continuing education units, for example, you may take our certified holistic cancer practitioner course. You might also take our metabolic balance for holistic nutritionists course. There’s nothing stopping you from working in both areas.
If you have a very specific interest as well, like a rare disease for example, you can mix that special interest in with other, more lucrative ones. Marketing your practice as having multiple areas of focus isn’t unusual at all. Your training at Edison is designed to give you the skills to work with clients, other than, simply those in your area of focus.
Become a Student of Edison Institute of Nutrition Today
Do you have a desire to help make people healthier through nutrition?
If so, consider becoming a student at Edison Institute of Nutrition.
Contact us today, and take your first step toward a new, fulfilling career in holistic nutrition.
