Clinical dietitian vs clinical nutritionist

The differences between clinical 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 clinical dietitian and a clinical nutritionist. Additionally, a clinical nutritionist has an average salary of $63,591, which is higher than the $59,133 average annual salary of a clinical dietitian.

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

Clinical dietitian vs clinical nutritionist overview

	Clinical Dietitian	Clinical Nutritionist
Yearly salary	$59,133	$63,591
Hourly rate	$28.43	$30.57
Growth rate	7%	7%
Number of jobs	57,500	57,652
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	2	2

Clinical dietitian vs clinical nutritionist salary

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

	Clinical Dietitian	Clinical Nutritionist
Average salary	$59,133	$63,591
Salary range	Between $43,000 And $80,000	Between $31,000 And $130,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	-
Highest paying state	California	-
Best paying company	University of California	-
Best paying industry	Health Care	-

Differences between clinical dietitian and clinical nutritionist education

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

	Clinical Dietitian	Clinical Nutritionist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common major	Dietetics	Dietetics
Most common college	University of Maryland - College Park	Purdue University

Clinical dietitian vs clinical nutritionist demographics

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

	Clinical Dietitian	Clinical Nutritionist
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 8.7% Female, 91.3%	Male, 12.0% Female, 88.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 10.0% White, 65.8% 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 clinical dietitian and clinical nutritionist duties and responsibilities

Clinical dietitian example responsibilities.

Provide personalize nutrition counseling to clients managing diabetes, lipid disorders, hypertension & obesity.
Collaborate with diabetes educator to achieve AADE accreditation for the diabetes education program and to provide education as an instructor.
Develop nutrition assessments and provide individual nutrition interventions for post-surgical/medical patients entering rehabilitation.
Provide nutritional care for general medical population; assess nutritional status of ICU patients and implement nutritional intervention.
Perform nutrition evaluations and education for rehab patients; complete MDS forms and participate in interdisciplinary team meetings.
Sole nutrition department member participating in daily and weekly integrative team rounds for oncology and high risk maternity patients.

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.

Clinical dietitian vs clinical nutritionist skills

Common clinical dietitian skills

Patients, 35%
Patient Care, 9%
Medical Nutrition Therapy, 7%
Home Health, 5%
Nutrition Services, 3%
Diabetes, 3%

Common clinical nutritionist skills

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

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Clinical Dietitian
Clinical Dietitian vs Clinical Nutritionist

Updated January 8, 2025

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