American Health Science University

The courses and curriculum for the N.I.N.E. program were a positive life changing experience for my catering and nutritional consulting business as well as for me personally. I am a proponent of sustainable and organic agricultural practices and apply my consulting with an emphasis on whole foods. I have been fortunate enough to offer my services for the last 20 years due to the knowledge found in the course work and the continuing educational research applicable to assist my clients. When AHSU accepted my application a BS degree with related course work was necessary. A proctored “learn at your own pace” educational environment was offered which worked wonderfully with my full life with a family and career. This experience lead me down the path of REAL knowledge needed to help my clients. In addition the course work offered a practical and profound manner to service the community. With dietary life style transitions and supplementation many clients have immensely improved their quality of life, reversed disease and completely removed the need for pharmaceuticals. The Registered Dietitian course work was exactly the opposite of what I was seeking, thus the AHSU education. The paradigm has arrived for the populace to make well informed decisions on what they consume, not what the corporations promote for profits with disregard for our true well being.

If you are interested in the science of nutrition get your BS, MS or PhD in Nutrition Science. Programs like this take your money and waste your time. You CANNOT work as a practicing nutrition professional because you have no license to practice. You have not complete the rigorous course work that encompasses more than just “six courses” as outlined in this program in addition to the internship and state boards you are required to pass. You are NOT a Licensed Dietitian. Compare for yourself: Online Program as described: • 6 courses • 6 hour exam BS Degree from a Major University with an extensive 6-12 month internship in the field of clinical, food service and community nutrition: • 50 hours Basic Core Curriculum (~ 16 courses) • 70 hours Nutritional Science Track Courses ( ~ 25-28 courses) As you can see, there is no comparison. Do NOT waste your time, energy and money on this!

This is a bogus credential. Who is the credentialing agency? You are not a Registered Dietitian! You are not licensed by your State Dept of Education or any other dept. Don't claim to be an expert. You are not. You cannot work as a dietitian because you do not have the proper credential. All you can do is put up a sign or write a book. Your counseling in not covered by any health insurance.

When I started this school in 1994 it was called NINE (National Institute for Nutritional Education) and it was the ONLY accredited education course to study Nutrition instead of Dietetics. I already had 1 Bachelor of Science Degree (Psychology) and was working on another (Health Science and Biochemistry from Chapman University). I worked part time at a vitamin shop in LA and I did this school work at night. The courses were very hard and the tests which were proctored by someone approved by the school so there was no chance for cheating were 4 hours long! In 2001 I mentored another student through the school and I proctored her tests. I was surprised to see that her test was 2 sides of 1 page! and took her about 30 minutes to complete! I was NOT happy. I found I had to train her MUCH more than I should have had to. Luckily, I already had experience working in psych hospitals and counseling, running groups etc.. or I would not have had the experience I needed to start my practice just from this school. The internship is important. I did learn a LOT about nutrition and alternative medicine along with traditional "western" methods that Dieticians are taught (the 4 food groups - which is a joke to me), Back them RD programs taught that "you get everything you need from your food - you NEVER need to take supplements" and "Nutritionists are quacks" and now the ADA (American Dietetic Association) calls itself the "Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics". Because they know the public whats Nutritionists not DIETS or hospital food. So the good parts are I learned what I wanted to learn to practice the way I wanted to. I did do many, many thousands of hours and dollars worth of CEU's on my own to learn as much as possible since then and to keep up. I did get disillusioned when I was referring new students and they were not getting the help they needed from the school. Now I find out the sent all their patients to another online school (there was no online school's when I started this by the way it was all mail and text books). The new school is accredited by Tennessee distance learning or something? So watch out for what "accredited" means. I have a friend who is doing this course now "Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® (FDN) Certification Course" created by a man named Reed Davis (a CN as well not sure when he graduated) but from what I have seen I think the classes being offered too very good. I have been very successful with a lot of hard work. I am a well-known nutritionist with a busy practice for about 18 years now and I have worked for corporations, school districts, hospitals and supplement companies. I think my degree was great back when I did it but if it sounds like the quality of it went way down (even worse than when I was mentoring students in the late 90's and early 2000's and the charges for CEU's and to "use the CN designation" is a rip off. I now have an MS so I don't need to call myself a CN anymore but I feel for those that do. This was not a rule when I paid my tuition. If it was not a rule when you paid than don't pay it. I'm sure they made a lot of money selling their students to that other school in 2008? I know Dr Johnston and his wife Ingrid. They are older now and I doubt they can keep on this paperwork etc.. If I were to look for a school today to do while working - I would recommend the FDN or The University of Bridgeport Master's program. Or USC has a weekend MSc in Nutrition program. Just some advice from someone who's been there. Be careful what you spend your money on. There are so many "nutrition coach" or "wellness coach" or "nutrition consultant" courses that are not reputable. RD's are trying each year to make it illegal for Nutritionists (degreed ones like I am) to practice with patients. Going to questionable school and setting up a "practice" without the right credentials makes this easier for them so please don't so it. These days people who sell Juice Plus call themselves Nutrition Coaches.. come on really?? If you don't have real credentials you can't buy liability insurance and you can be sued as well. (Most people don't think about that). I had to go back and pay for more education after this one. I am glad I did but at the time I was not it was a lot to work and do that with a baby. Was this school once good an reputable and worth the time and money yes.. is it now? No. And I don't trust that new school either. I think you can do better.

I graduated in 2001 with the CN designation. I completed all testing, midterm and finals through a local college proctor, who admisisterd the tests. The program was completed in less than two years and was created for graduate studies. I had a small child at the time, so the convenience of scheduling my curriculum with my lifestyle was very beneficial. I found the program enhanced my culinary and consulting career, as well as my personal choices.

The CN program can be used in conjunction with other credentials to broaden a person's scope of practice and bring a level of professionalism to his or her practice. The course work was strenuous, but doable. However, like almost all "book learning", it is not until one practices one's craft, that true learning begins. Thus, the CN program is a worthy endeavor. It brings a level of authenticity to an area that has thus far been "a little out of the box". The good news is that modalities like nutrition are becoming very popular and mainstream medicine is taking notice. Hopefully the insurance industry will begin to loosen their pursestrings and begin to cover nutritional consultations. I would certainly recommend the program to anyone who is interested.

ASHU was a great school. I was one of the students who was TRANSFERED to HCHS during my final semester at ASHU. I did not receive any problems with the transfer or with ASHU after the transfer. Although ASHU is no longer offering degree programs, they are still very active in helping CN's locate CE hours, and offer classes for CE. HCHS has many great degree programs and is a sister school to ASHU. I have never had any problems with Dr. Johnston at ASHU continuing to answer any of my questions even after my transfer into the HCHS.

I have comleted the CN degree and found this program to be very helpful and professional.

I completed this course many years ago, and was fairly satisfied with the coursework. My big complaint is that they changed their CEU requirements so that the only CEUs they accept to keep your license current are thier own classes that are way too expensive for what you get. They are just trying to make more money off their former students. They also do not let you use the CN "Certified" Nutritionist designation if you don't do thier CEUs and pay for their license. The "certified" designation should be allowed to anyone who completed the coursework and recieved a "certificate" of completion.

American Health Science University (AHSU) is no longer accredited. They dumped all of their students off on another university which is probably better (HCHS). AHSU's director does not respond to any inquiries, and he has ignored requests for refunds from students who chose to withdraw from the program rather than transfer schools. The teachers who used to work for AHSU now work for HCHS. They were pretty good and they all commented that the HCHS courses would be better than the AHSU courses. If I decide to pursue nutrition education in the future I will look to HCHS.

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.)