Chief dietitian vs clinical nutritionist

The differences between chief dietitians and clinical nutritionists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a chief dietitian and a clinical nutritionist. Additionally, a chief dietitian has an average salary of $65,808, which is higher than the $63,591 average annual salary of a clinical nutritionist.

The top three skills for a chief dietitian include medical nutrition, nutrition education and quality improvement. The most important skills for a clinical nutritionist are patients, medical nutrition therapy, and nutrition education.

Chief dietitian vs clinical nutritionist overview

	Chief Dietitian	Clinical Nutritionist
Yearly salary	$65,808	$63,591
Hourly rate	$31.64	$30.57
Growth rate	7%	7%
Number of jobs	18,747	57,652
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	2	2

Chief dietitian vs clinical nutritionist salary

Chief dietitians and clinical nutritionists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Chief Dietitian	Clinical Nutritionist
Average salary	$65,808	$63,591
Salary range	Between $32,000 And $133,000	Between $31,000 And $130,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between chief dietitian and clinical nutritionist education

There are a few differences between a chief dietitian and a clinical nutritionist in terms of educational background:

	Chief Dietitian	Clinical Nutritionist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common major	Dietetics	Dietetics
Most common college	University of Maryland - College Park	Purdue University

Chief dietitian vs clinical nutritionist demographics

Here are the differences between chief dietitians' and clinical nutritionists' demographics:

	Chief Dietitian	Clinical Nutritionist
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 15.5% Female, 84.5%	Male, 12.0% Female, 88.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 10.7% Asian, 9.7% White, 67.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 10.9% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between chief dietitian and clinical nutritionist duties and responsibilities

Chief dietitian example 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.

Clinical nutritionist example responsibilities.

Manage the anemia status of patients by reviewing necessary lab data and initiating or adjusting medication doses.
Train patients in diabetes self-management and continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (insulin pump therapy).
Participate in weekly interdisciplinary rounds to further evaluate patients at increase nutritional risk and discuss the appropriate route for recovery.
Initiate application process for ADA approve diabetes education program.
Conduct medical nutrition management on outpatient basis; conduct weight control and diabetes education groups.
Participate in interdisciplinary biweekly meetings for rehabilitation unit.

Chief dietitian vs clinical nutritionist skills

Common chief dietitian skills

Medical Nutrition, 22%
Nutrition Education, 21%
Quality Improvement, 17%
Clinical Nutrition, 16%
Food Service Operations, 14%
Educational Materials, 10%

Common clinical nutritionist skills

Patients, 31%
Medical Nutrition Therapy, 8%
Nutrition Education, 6%
Diabetes, 6%
Nutritional Risk, 5%
RD, 4%

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Chief Dietitian
Chief Dietitian vs Clinical Nutritionist

Updated January 8, 2025

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