Chief dietitian vs dietitian

The differences between chief dietitians and dietitians 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 dietitian. Additionally, a chief dietitian has an average salary of $65,808, which is higher than the $58,480 average annual salary of a dietitian.

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

Chief dietitian vs dietitian overview

	Chief Dietitian	Dietitian
Yearly salary	$65,808	$58,480
Hourly rate	$31.64	$28.12
Growth rate	7%	7%
Number of jobs	18,747	6,164
Job satisfaction	-	2.5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	2	2

Chief dietitian vs dietitian salary

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

	Chief Dietitian	Dietitian
Average salary	$65,808	$58,480
Salary range	Between $32,000 And $133,000	Between $43,000 And $78,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	University of California
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between chief dietitian and dietitian education

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

	Chief Dietitian	Dietitian
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common major	Dietetics	Dietetics
Most common college	University of Maryland - College Park	University of Maryland - College Park

Chief dietitian vs dietitian demographics

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

	Chief Dietitian	Dietitian
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 15.5% Female, 84.5%	Male, 11.7% Female, 88.3%
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, 8.4% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 10.9% Asian, 9.8% White, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between chief dietitian and dietitian 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.

Dietitian example responsibilities.

Manage the anemia status of patients by reviewing necessary lab data and initiating or adjusting medication doses.
Prioritize initial/quarterly/consult assessments, interventions and progress monitoring for long-term care, rehabilitation and post acute patients.
Design and provide individualize nutrition counseling to promote healthy behavior modifications for a variety of home health care patients.
Counsele post-op patients to ensure dietary compliance, nutritional adequacy and formulation of weight management goals throughout their post-operative course.
Perform indirect calorimetry to measure resting metabolic rates (RMR).
Work as part of research team on a large-scale NIH clinical trial.

Chief dietitian vs dietitian 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 dietitian skills

Patients, 39%
Medical Nutrition Therapy, 9%
Rehabilitation, 6%
Patient Education, 6%
Nutrition Services, 5%
Lab Results, 4%

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Chief Dietitian
Chief Dietitian vs Dietitian

Updated January 8, 2025

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