Dietician: Scope and Career opportunities

A dietician is a person whose expertise is in human nutrition and the regulation of diet. A dietician advices people about their diet in order to lead a healthy lifestyle and to achieve a specific health-related goals.

Who is a dietician?
A registered dietician is a person who meets specific academic and professional requirements, including a bachelor's degree with an accredited nutrition curriculum, an internship at an approved health care facility or any food-service organisation.

A dietician works directly with people to create nutritional programmes to maintain health and to prevent diseases.

Advantages of being a dietician:

As a dietician, your education revolves around healthy food and balanced diet. So you will benefit personally by improved health.
The employment opportunities for a dietician is flexible as they are employed in a variety of work environments like hospitals, clinics, public health, private practices and also in educational organisations.
Most of the them are said to have flexible hours and a choice to work full or part time.
The compensation for a dietician varies depending on the level of college education and employment situation.

What are the educational requirements to become a dietician?

Usually a bachelor's degree in dietetics or a related field is required to become a dietician.
To become a dietican, course subjects such as microbiology, statistics, psychology and biology are mandatory.
Educational programmes also provide skills with practical experience to prepare students for career after graduation.
Post graduation degrees are also available for individuals seeking to move into research, public health or more advanced clinical options.
Students also have distance learning options to pursue their education through online courses or degree programmes that are offered online.
Some dieticians pursue specialised areas of practice and even become certified in a specialty.

Job roles of a dietician and career scope:

The following are the job roles and the industries where a dietician are hired:

Clinical dieticians work in hospitals, nursing care facilities and other health care facilities.
Community dieticians work with wellness programmes, public health organisations, and other health maintenance organisations.
Food-service dieticians are responsible for large-scale food planning and service.
Pediatric dieticians provide nutrition and health advice for infants, children and adolescents.
Research dieticians focus on health services research.
Administrative dieticians serve as resource people in food and nutrition through business marketing and communications.
Consultant dieticians are dieticians who work under contract with health care facilities or private practice.

According to reports employment of dieticians is expected to increase 21% faster compared to other occupations. A growing interest in health and nutrition will help boost demand for dieticians and nutritionists.

What is the salary range of these professionals?
Dieticians earn an average yearly compensation of approx. $56,000. In India, the starting salary in this field is around Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 per month.

Top colleges/universities offering this course in India