Nutrition has always been a passion of mine. I remember as a young teen finding a A-Z vitamin book at the second hand book store. I loved reading about the individual vitamins and minerals, their role in the body. Funnily enough, when putting my preferences down after high school, a nutrition degree at the local university was on my radar. I moved to Sydney very shortly after finishing high school so that didn’t work out. After a year of traveling abroad, I came back and enrolled in an online certificate course in nutrition. It was a little taster and after completing this I went on the study an Advanced Diploma in both Nutrition and Herbal Medicine. Though after completing both Advanced Diploma’s, I didn’t feel I had enough knowledge and certainly didn’t feel ready for clinic. I was hungry for more. After doing my research and weighing up my options, I decided on Endeavour College of Natural Health. I completed my studies at Endeavour College in 2013, graduating with a Bachelor of Health Science (Nutritional Medicine). Studying at Endeavour College was the best career decisions I made. It up skilled me to be a holistic, objective and evidence informed practitioner. I am now a Clinical Accredited Nutritionist with my consulting rooms in Sydney. My career as a nutritionist has been academically very stimulating, financially rewarding and most importantly provides flexibility to work in with my lifestyle and family.
My degree from Endeavour College taught me the science I needed to throughly understand the human body. As a clinical nutritionist, I realise how valuable what I learnt was and I am so thankful to have such a strong science background that I can continuously build on. I understand the anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and diseases processes of the body and from there can apply evidence based practise to my patients.
The whole patient and holistic approach that was reinforced at Endeavour College has guided me and my patients to great success. It’s not about dietary fads or implanting the latest trend. It’s about using your understanding of the human body, ability to effectively communicate, knowledge of nutritional therapy and keeping up to date with latest evidence based research in order to decipher what each individual patient needs. Treating the whole person and not the disease has been one of my greatest lessons.
Endeavour College Graduation ceremony in 2013 with my mum.
The second half of the degree is based in the busy student clinic where I was guided by my incredible supervisors wither of experience in the industry and got my own hand on experience working with a range of patients. This was invaluable for me as really brought everything I had learnt in theory together and allowed me to put what I had learnt into practise. While at first it was a little daunting, I never felt unprepared and was always given the support I needed to grow as a practitioner. I wasted no time after graduating from Endeavour College and jumped straight into running my own clinic. I had the clinical experience from student clinic, the confidence and the knowledge to go and help people.
While I always knew I would set up my own nutrition clinic, Endeavour College helped me prepare for all the other options that were possible following on from my degree. I have worked with brands to develop nutritional and dietary supplements and as well as being an “expert” contributor at events and in the media. Vida Glow, Bellamy’s Organic, Sporteluxe, Commbank Wellness Hub, Gourmet Traveller, Body + Soul, just to name a few of brands, companies and publications I have contributed to. My degree from Endeavour College of Natural Medicine gave me the skills and vision to explore and open myself up to a broad range of opportunities in the space of nutrition and healthcare.
2018 trip to Shanghai with Bellamy's Organic
The lecturers I had at Endeavour were seriously inspiring and I’m still in contact with a lot of them. They put the fire in my belly and gave me all the support I needed while at Endeavour College but also post graduation. It was important for me to be taught by academics, but also by lecturers who were actively in the industry that were able to share their own stories and experiences with me. The classes were engaging, the assignments were relevant and there was flexibility in how and when we studied. The flexibility of online and on campus study options and the subject load per semester was really important for me as a soon to be mum.
I am now running a busy, successful practise where I get to do something rewarding that I love everyday. I am industry recognised, association accredited, able to safely prescribe practitioner only supplements and have the respect of the wider health community. I am now in the process of applying for my Master of Human Nutrition, I thank ECNM for providing me with a recognised university level degree that has made my application process seamless and has given me the research skills to be ready for postgraduate study.
If you are considering studying Natural Medicine, there is no where else I would recommend.