How To Become A Chief Dietitian: What It Is and Career Path

What is a chief dietitian and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Samantha Coogan

The average chief dietitian salary is $65,808. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an dietetics major. It usually takes 1-2 years of experience to become a chief dietitian. Chief dietitians with a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 7% and produce 5,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a chief dietitian?

Samantha Coogan

Director, Didactic Program in Nutrition & Dietetics / Lecturer, Undergraduate Coordinator, Nutrition Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

- Holding leadership roles can be a potential negotiation tool as it shows a willingness to grow and be goal-oriented. Don't be afraid to negotiate and advocate for yourself, even early on. Recognize your worth and time commitment to your education. Working with a recruiter/career coach or a colleague in the field can help practice negotiation skills.

ScoreChief DietitianUS Average

Salary

5.1

Avg. Salary $65,808

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.2

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.86%

Asian 9.70%

Black or African American 7.92%

Hispanic or Latino 10.74%

Unknown 3.63%

White 67.14%

Gender

female 84.51%

male 15.49%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

7.2

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.9

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a chief dietitian

Explore chief dietitian education requirements

Most common chief dietitian degrees

Bachelor's

70.6 %

Master's

23.5 %

Certificate

1.5 %

Start to develop specific chief dietitian skills

Skills	Percentages
Medical Nutrition	21.67%
Nutrition Education	21.26%
Quality Improvement	17.35%
Clinical Nutrition	15.63%
Food Service Operations	13.62%

Complete relevant chief dietitian training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New chief dietitians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a chief dietitian based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real chief dietitian resumes.

Research chief dietitian duties and responsibilities

Manage the anemia status of patients by reviewing necessary lab data and initiating or adjusting medication doses.
Monitor adherence to MDS schedule, care plan completion, and DOH regulations.
Provide individual and group nutrition counseling, including interactive nutrition and culinary sessions to low-income multicultural communities.
Provide clinical nutrition coverage as needed for medical-surgical, telemetry, intensive care unit, behavioral health and rehabilitative floors.

Prepare your chief dietitian resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your chief dietitian resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a chief dietitian resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable chief dietitian resume templates

Build a professional chief dietitian resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your chief dietitian resume.

Apply for chief dietitian jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a chief dietitian job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do chief dietitians rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Chief dietitian reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2022

Cons

No room for upward mobility in most healthcare areas. Pay is bad. Still the lowest paid healthcare professionals for the amount of education required to become a RDN. For that much education better off becoming a PA or RN that becomes a NP.

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2019

Pros

I love the daytime work hours and having the weekends off most of the time. I love it when a client is interested in diet and ready to learn.