What is a Registered Dietitian?
What Does a Dietitian Do?
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Provided by Jennifer Fabe, MSc.R.D. Registered Dietitian

What is a Registered Dietitian?

The letters "RD" (Registered Dietitian) after a person's name means that the person is registered with the College of Dietitians of Ontario. In Ontario, Registered Dietitians are highly educated in the sciences related to foods and human nutrition and they are trained to apply their knowledge in a variety of settings. Registered Dietitians are required to continue their professional development to remain current and expand the competencies needed for delivering safe, ethical, and high quality dietetics services. They have met all the requirements established by the College to determine competence to practice.

The minimum requirement for becoming a Registered Dietitian is the completion of a four-year accredited undergraduate university program in foods and nutrition (or equivalent) as well as an accredited internship minimum of 35 weeks (or equivalent practical training). Following this education, a dietitian has also passed an exam assessing his/her competence to practice in Canada.

Only those individuals who are registered with the College of Dietitians of Ontario can use the titles dietitian, Registered Dietitian, a variation or abbreviation or an equivalent in another language. Law protects these titles and people using them inappropriately can be fined up to $10,000.

Other people may provide nutrition advice but under Ontario law only Registered Dietitians are held accountable to the College of Dietitians of Ontario and the public for their conduct, the quality of their care and the nutrition services that they provide. The public can trust that dietitians are highly qualified.
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What Does a Dietitian Do?

Registered Dietitians (RDs) are food and nutrition experts. They help people of all ages meet their nutritional needs. The Dietetics Act gives the Scope of Practice of dietitians as "the assessment of nutrition and nutritional conditions and the prevention and treatment of nutritional disorders by nutritional means."

• Dietitians may work in a variety of clinical, community, food production and industry settings. They also work in public policy, management and marketing. Typical practice scenarios are as follows:
• RDs work with individuals and groups to assess nutritional needs and develop nutrition plans and special therapeutic diets to prevent, treat and manage health conditions like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and weight problems. Although these dietitians often work in hospitals and other clinical settings, some of them are in private practice such as Krista DuChene
• RDs work with communities and special populations, like people with heart disease, to assess the nutritional needs of the whole population and work on community level solutions, for instance, health education and encouraging restaurants to feature healthy selection notes on their menus;
• RDs also work behind the scenes in food service management to make sure that the food in places like hospitals, long-term care facilities, universities and businesses is safe, nutritious and cost-effective;
• RDs are involved with food industry and pharmaceutical companies to develop and market nutritional foods and products;
• RDs also do research and teach to make sure the body of knowledge supporting the field of dietetics continues to grow and to be disseminated to those who must rely on accurate and current information.

What is the Difference Between a Dietitian and a Nutritionist?

The title "Registered Dietitian", "Professional Dietitian", and "Dietitian" are protected by law -- through provincial legislation -- so that only qualified practitioners who have met education qualifications can use that title.

• Dietitians who have met national standards for education and training and who are members of the provincial regulatory bodies can use one of the following designations -- RD, PDt or RDt (or the French equivalent Dt.P.).
• A dietitian is a health professional who has a Bachelor's degree, specializing in foods and nutrition, as well as a period of practical training in a hospital or community setting. Many dietitians further their knowledge by pursuing a Master's or Doctoral degree.
• Dietitians are members of a provincially regulated profession that has Public Protection as their mandate. Dietitians are held accountable for their conduct and the care they provide.
• The term Nutritionist is not protected by law in all provinces so people with different levels of training and knowledge can all themselves a "Nutritionist". The title "Nutritionist" is protected for Dietitians in some provinces and dietitians do use the title "nutritionists". As the term "nutritionist' is not a protected title in some provinces, you should contact your provincial regulatory body to ensure that you are receiving services from a dietitian.
• A variety of titles have been used by unqualified people to describe their involvement in nutrition related practice. Many use the term "registered" with a variation of "nutrition" as a title. You should be careful to ensure that the person is a qualified nutrition professional.
• Typically dietitians working in a hospital or health care institution will have a job title that uses the term "dietitian" and will focus on clinical care of the patient or manage the food service. Dietitians working in community settings will typically have a job title that uses "nutritionist" and focus on healthy eating and wellness at various stages of the lifecycle.

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