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Purpose: Nutrition students’ expectations for and experiences of their education were explored, as was the influence of the educational process on the students.

Methods: In this qualitative research guided by a phenomenological approach, eight students in the first year and six in the final year of an undergraduate program completed semistructured interviews.

Results: Although the students were diverse in terms of age, ethnicity, and class background, all stated that they wanted to become dietitians. Our findings illuminate the ways in which dietetic education influences students’ relationship with food, their bodies, bodies of knowledge, and family and friends. Professionalization, as initiated through discourse, necessitates a particular loss of relationship with the self. Although students enter with an awareness of professional norms and discourses, their education fosters an identity shift based on the …