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FYI (For Your Information)

FYI, outside the US, many people spell dietitian as dietician (a tic in the middle) and in the United States, dietitian is spelled dietitian (a tit in the middle). Since the internet is worldwide, either spelling would be correct.

FYI, some states now have licensure that restricts who can provide nutrition advice within a state. Check on licensure with your state dietetic association which is probably located in the capital of the state in which you live.

FYI, dietitians are 97% white female. The American Dietetic Association periodically surveys its members and publishes the results of those surveys in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. The last salary survey was published in 1996 and should be available in the library of any college with a dietetics program or medical school. Salaries vary depending on whether you choose clinical (hospital, our patient clinic or nursing home), food service or private practice. Health clubs or corporate wellness programs may be a better mix of your degrees if you have both exercise physiology and nutrition. Lastly, positions for dietitians in some areas are tight due to the fact that dietitians tend to stay close to home as many have families. Before you spend the time educating yourself to become a Registered Dietitian, check with your state's dietetic association for job openings and state salary ranges as well as colleges with programs.

FYI, Dietetics is opening up beyond the traditional health care job though the majority of dietitians still work in hospitals, nursing homes or outpatient clinics. Public health nutritionists have a master's degree in nutrition and are usually registered dietitians. They often work in county, state and federal programs with a nutrition component like WIC, EFNEP, school lunch, etc. Call your state public health department and ask to talk to a dietitian about their job. If you want to become a registered dietitian, you will need an internship or graduate degree with work experience. Check out the American Dietetic Association home page for information on careers and colleges in dietetics.

First check out the American Dietetic Association home page as the answers to many of your questions are there. ADA has a list at their web site of colleges that offer dietetics programs. You will need a four year college degree plus an internship (9 months to 1 year after college) to become a registered dietitian or a two year degree and clinical experience to become a registered dietetic technician. Dietetic technicians assist dietitians and do similar work.

If you have an interest in food and how it nourishes the body or wellness and health, dietetics may be for you. I went into dietetics because I loved to cook and a girlfriend's father who was president of Cellu Featherweight food company talked to me about becoming a dietitian. Cellu Featherweight makes dietetic foods that can be bought in grocery stores. Food companies usually hire food technologists to design new foods. Check out the Institute of Food Technologists.

The advantages are you work when people eat and are awake which is 6 AM to 7 PM, so no shift work like nursing or other health care careers, but you may have to work weekends and holidays. It's exciting to see a person get better by changing what or when they eat. You don't have to know how to cook or even like cooking to become a dietitian. The disadvantages are that dietitians are 97% female who are not unionized and therefore, beginning salary can be under $30,000 per year for a new graduate. The American Dietetic Association periodically does surveys of members to determine what type of work members perform and what they are getting paid for that work.

Most dietitians work with patients (clinical dietitians) or work with food service (administrative dietitians) either in hospitals, nursing homes or out patient clinics. Some clinical dietitians work in private practice (counsel patients), perform nutrition research, consult with smaller health care facilities or teach in colleges / universities. Other dietitians work for companies who sell food products, a few work in media and communications (TV, radio, newspaper) or some work with athletes or professional sports teams. There are different areas of practice that dietitians work in / with such as public health, senior citizens, mental health, cancer, renal (kidney), children (pediatrics), diabetes, rehabilitation, sports & wellness or school food service.

Call your local hospital or clinic and ask to talk to a dietitian. Most would be happy to show you around and tell you what a typical day is like. Ask lots of questions like "how did you get interested in becoming a dietitian" or "where did you go to school". To become a dietitian, you will need to major in dietetics or nutrition. Your minor could be in chemistry, business or counseling depending on whether you want to be a clinical or administrative dietitian. You don't have to make a decision about your area of practice (i.e. diabetes or children) until you graduate, but you should decide if you want to work with patients (clinical) or food (administrative) as that will determine the courses you take the last 2 years of college.