Chief dietitian vs outpatient dietitian

The differences between chief dietitians and outpatient 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 an outpatient dietitian. Additionally, a chief dietitian has an average salary of $65,808, which is higher than the $62,717 average annual salary of an outpatient dietitian.

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

Chief dietitian vs outpatient dietitian overview

	Chief Dietitian	Outpatient Dietitian
Yearly salary	$65,808	$62,717
Hourly rate	$31.64	$30.15
Growth rate	7%	7%
Number of jobs	18,747	10,972
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	2	2

Chief dietitian vs outpatient dietitian salary

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

	Chief Dietitian	Outpatient Dietitian
Average salary	$65,808	$62,717
Salary range	Between $32,000 And $133,000	Between $38,000 And $102,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between chief dietitian and outpatient dietitian education

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

	Chief Dietitian	Outpatient Dietitian
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common major	Dietetics	Dietetics
Most common college	University of Maryland - College Park	University of Maryland - College Park

Chief dietitian vs outpatient dietitian demographics

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

	Chief Dietitian	Outpatient Dietitian
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 15.5% Female, 84.5%	Male, 7.5% Female, 92.5%
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, 9.1% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.1% Asian, 8.5% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between chief dietitian and outpatient 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.

Outpatient dietitian example responsibilities.

Manage the anemia status of patients by reviewing necessary lab data and initiating or adjusting medication doses.
Perform nutritional education, complete comprehensive assessments, calculate patient needs for nutrition support and determine patients at risk for malnutrition.
Create educational lesson discussing hypertension prevention, risk factors, MNT.
Monitor patients' nutrition status, laboratory values, diet tolerance, and motivate them to adhere to dietary/medications recommendations.
Provide clinical nutrition coverage as needed for medical-surgical, telemetry, intensive care unit, behavioral health and rehabilitative floors.

Chief dietitian vs outpatient 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 outpatient dietitian skills

Patients, 30%
Medical Nutrition Therapy, 11%
Patient Care, 6%
Nutrition Services, 5%
Home Health, 4%
Healthcare Professionals, 4%

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Chief Dietitian
Chief Dietitian vs Outpatient Dietitian

Updated January 8, 2025

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