Clinical Registered Dietitians, Employers, and Educators Are Interested in Advanced Practice Education and Professional Doctorate Degrees in Clinical Nutrition

Framework for Analyzing Supply and Demand for Specialist and Advanced Practice Registered Dietitians

“…A 2006 study noted that RDs expect additional salary when they obtain additional skills (18), and in most cases, RDs with additional certificates and education receive greater compensation than those without certification (19). At the 50th percentile of salary grades, RDs with licensure and certi- fication generate more income than those without licensure and certification.…”

“…With regard to pursuing advanced practice, in other studies, RDs have cited the time to obtain additional education and money for tuition-and, depending on the employer, the lack of tuition assistance-as barriers (18,39,40). The Council on Future Practice's recommendation to use the word "specialist" only to describe RDs with a credential results in ambiguity as to how to describe RDs practicing in areas where the cohort is too small for creation of a credential to be practical.…”

Advanced Medical Nutrition Therapy Practice

“…7 Interest in hiring dietitians with these skills was solicited from all clinical nutrition managers at academic medical centers. 7 Interest scores from both groups are shown in Figure 2. Dietitians were most interested in skills and courses related to direct patient or client care.…”

“…However, a few educators indicated high levels of interest in developing advanced practice education programs at the doctoral level. 7 Thus, it is possible that there are educators who are ready to take on the challenge of developing more advanced-level medical nutrition therapy programs.…”

“…In a recent survey of almost 1,000 randomly selected clinical dietitians with more than 3 years of medical nutrition therapy experience, high levels of interest in learning additional clinical skills and obtaining additional education were identified. 7 In the same survey, employers in academic medical centers reported a need for advanced-level medical nutrition therapy practitioners. Based on the interest of beyond entry-level dietitians and some employers, educators may have an opportunity to develop advanced medical nutrition therapy programs.…”