What Does a Registered Dietitian Do?
Before you begin thinking about a career as a registered dietitian, it is important that you first understand the job description. There are certain skills and experience that are necessary in order to become a dietitian. While you might know a little bit about what they are there are things that may still surprise you. One thing you might not know is that there are very specific education requirements to become a dietitian. This is a big part of the dietitian vs nutritionist debate. Nutritionists have many different specialties, and don’t always have to have a degree. For example, nutritionists in California often specialize in sports nutrition. Dietitians, on the other hand, MUST have a degree in dietetics.
The job description for a dietitian varies according to the field that you want to specialize in. Many people don’t realize, but there are a variety of different types of dietitians – such as clinical, community, management and even consultant dietitians. Typically, however, the summary of what a dietitian does is as follows:
· Develop, plan and prepare nutrition programs for patients to promote, educate and improve healthy eating habits
A dietitian is expected to consult with a patient to create healthy meal plans that can be used by them to treat illness or simply improve their quality of life through what they eat. A dietitian as the name suggests is broadly focused on improving a persons diet.
4 of the Common Registered Dietitian Roles:
Clinical Dietitian: The job description of a clinical dietitian means that they provide their services primarily to patients within hospitals or similar health care institutions. They will assess, develop and implement programs to improve the diet of the patients and report the results to the doctors. They will also consult with the doctors in order to combine the best medical and nutritional information for the patient.
Community Dietitian: Like the clinical dietitian, they still provide the best nutritional advice for patients. However, the place of employment and the type of client is different. The community dietitian works in public health clinics or similar public agencies. They provide their services to the public, and work with individuals or groups within a community.
Management Dietitian: The job description for a management dietitian differs slightly from the two above in that they provide their services on a large scale. They provide nutrition advice, meals plans and preparation across an organisation or sector. Management experience is important in this role as it also deals with budgeting costs associated with equipment and food purchase. They are also required to hire and direct other dietitians to enforce their food regulations, and enforce food safety.
Consultant Dietitian: This role involves working under the contract of their employer, or within their own private practice with their own clients. The role is most similar to the generic job description above. However, if working within your own practice then it is going to be important to learn some basic money management and accounting skills in order to track client payments and know where your money is going.