Path to Becoming a Registered Dietitian

Path to Becoming a Registered Dietitian
By Harper Henson, Life University Dietetic Intern

A Registered Dietitian, aka an RD, is a certified license to provide specific nutrition care in the form of medical nutrition therapy. This differs from a “nutritionist” as it is not a regulated term which anyone can call themselves. To become an RD, there are specific steps to follow to get the credentials. Currently the main pathway is to:

1. Complete a minimum of a bachelor’s degree. This has to be at an accredited university or college with Didactic program of Dietetics (DPD) course work accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This gives the student their DPD verification statement to move on to the next step.

2. Complete an ACEND-accredited supervised practice program which is called a Dietetic Internship (DI) that has rotations at a health-care facility, community agency, or a foodservice corporation, which will typically run six to 12 months long.

○ There are also combined Dietetic Internships with undergraduate or graduate studies called coordinated programs that include the DPD classes for those who did not have that degree first.

○ Another path is called Individualized Supervised Practice Pathways (ISPPs) that allow those who have a graduate degree who did not match to a dietetic internship, but who possess a DPD verification statement, or individuals that hold a doctoral degree without a DPD verification statement can apply for an ISPP

See figures below:

Prior to 1/1/2024
Prospective Students without a Bachelor’s Degree

Prospective Students with a Bachelor’s Degree or Higher

Disclaimer for the Future: It will be required that RDs will have to complete a Masters degree in any area as well as completing a dietetic internship, ISPP, coordinated program or future accredited graduate degree program that will have a DI connected to it.

See figures below:

Prospective Students without a Master’s Degree
Prospective Students with a Master’s Degree or Higher

○ Then pass the national examination administered by the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) to become a certified Registered Dietitian. For more information regarding the examination, refer to CDR’s website at www.cdrnet.org

Further description of one pathway to becoming an RD includes completing a bachelors of science degree in nutrition that is accredited by the ACEND with DPD courses that include: nutrition assessment, medical nutrition therapy, food and nutrition sciences, foodservice systems management, culinary arts, nutrition communication, biochemistry, physiology, microbiology, anatomy and chemistry.

After completing a four year accredited bachelors degree, you apply to a Dietetic Internship (DI) that is through an online system called Dietetic Internship Central Application Service (DICAS). This system has you apply in order of priority and to match the program must want you too. There is another system in order to make the choices of ranking the programs called D&D Digital. However, there is an option to apply directly to programs such as the school
you went to that is an early application option.

The DI is not school and provides only the required competencies through supervised practice of 1200 hours, (however the past 2 cohorts of internships have been reduced to 1000 hours due to COVID-19). These hours are split into each area of experience for rotations: didactic, clinical, food service, and community. Some programs offer an elective or specialt rotation of the interns interest. These can last weeks at one place or split between different
opportunities for the same rotation hours, such as community at a WIC clinic and then a community garden.

After completion of the DI, you are eligible to sit for the credentialing exam which is a national exam administered by the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR). Passing this is the final step to become a registered dietitian. Then you are able to work with individuals on medical nutrition therapy in clinical practice in healthcare, communities, public health, private practice, food service management.

There are required continuing professional education hours needed every five years to keep the credential. Also there are programs to become certified in other specific aspects of nutrition such as becoming a clinical nutrition specialist (CNS), a certified sports specialist registered dietitian (CSSRD), a certified diabetes educator (CDE), and certified eating disorder registered dietitian (CEDRD) in which these require an RD license and extra supervised practice
hours.

My Journey as an RD to Be
In the perspective of a current dietetic intern, the process has been interesting. All I knew prior in highschool was that I was interested in nutrition and running. So I made sure the university I was going to run for had the major and was able to run with a scholarship for 4 years. During my time, universities usually have a core general education program, which I was able to get my courses reduced due to taking AP classes in high school and my university used my scores as credit for up to 30 of them. I was then able to graduate my program in 3 years. I then had to choose whether to go into the internship program or chose a graduate program for my last year of Division I NCAA running eligibility. I decided I did want to run another year but had to then choose to stay or go to another program. Due to the love of professors and program and team, I stayed to get my masters in one year at the same university. I did have to take 2 summer
classes to fit the 30 credits in and not overwhelm with training and classes. I also chose a non-thesis option but still did research. The last semester after applying to the internship, I had to wait 2 months to find out if I matched into a program and I did! Now I am over half way through and it has been an interesting experience due to the circumstances of the virus affecting getting in-person rotations as well as internal issues of the program.

I do have my critique as of the process and must acknowledge that I have immense privilege to have made it this far. The current system in place has many barriers to becoming a professional as it costs a lot of money to go through school and then pay to work for free for a year in the internship. That takes time that many people may have to focus on getting paid earlier in schooling to support themselves or their family. I am lucky to have had financial support with
my running scholarship to pay for most of my schooling and then family support for the internship. As of now, it looks like it will just be getting harder with the extra herdle of the masters requirement in 2024. Which I understand to increase the dietetics profession in the healthcare field to have doctors take us more seriously. I can only hope that I can be a part of the change of making the field more accessible to achieve the RD status to help diversify dietetics.

Sources:
1. Information for Students. Eatrightpro.org.
https://www.eatrightpro.org/acend/students-and-advancing-education/information-for-students.
Published 2021. Accessed March 7, 2021.
2. Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Fact Sheet. Eatrightpro.org.
https://www.eatrightpro.org/acend/students-and-advancing-education/information-for-students/re
gistered-dietitian-nutritionist-fact-sheet. Published 2021. Accessed March 8, 2021.