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Clinical dietitian vs community dietitian

The differences between clinical dietitians and community 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 clinical dietitian and a community dietitian. Additionally, a community dietitian has an average salary of $61,786, 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 community dietitian are medical nutrition, health education, and heart disease.

Clinical dietitian vs community dietitian overview

Clinical DietitianCommunity Dietitian
Yearly salary$59,133$61,786
Hourly rate$28.43$29.70
Growth rate7%7%
Number of jobs57,50016,585
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 73%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age4242
Years of experience22

Clinical dietitian vs community dietitian salary

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

Clinical DietitianCommunity Dietitian
Average salary$59,133$61,786
Salary rangeBetween $43,000 And $80,000Between $30,000 And $123,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CA-
Highest paying stateCalifornia-
Best paying companyUniversity of California-
Best paying industryHealth Care-

Differences between clinical dietitian and community dietitian education

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

Clinical DietitianCommunity Dietitian
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 73%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common majorDieteticsDietetics
Most common collegeUniversity of Maryland - College ParkUniversity of Maryland - College Park

Clinical dietitian vs community dietitian demographics

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

Clinical DietitianCommunity Dietitian
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 8.7% Female, 91.3%Male, 4.1% Female, 95.9%
Race ratioBlack 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, 9.1% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.3% Asian, 9.0% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage8%8%

Differences between clinical dietitian and community dietitian 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.
  • Show more

Community dietitian example responsibilities.

  • Manage the anemia status of patients by reviewing necessary lab data and initiating or adjusting medication doses.
  • Provide nutrition education and diet counseling to WIC participants, groups and individuals.
  • Provide basic nutrition education to WIC patients and teach nutrition classes in this rural community.
  • Monitor patients' nutrition status, laboratory values, diet tolerance, and motivate them to adhere to dietary/medications recommendations.
  • Provide individualized nutrition consultations for sports nutrition, weight-loss, diabetes, hypertension and hormonal changes.

Clinical dietitian vs community dietitian skills

Common clinical dietitian skills
  • Patients, 35%
  • Patient Care, 9%
  • Medical Nutrition Therapy, 7%
  • Home Health, 5%
  • Nutrition Services, 3%
  • Diabetes, 3%
Common community dietitian skills
  • Medical Nutrition, 17%
  • Health Education, 7%
  • Heart Disease, 6%
  • Community Health, 5%
  • Disease Management, 5%
  • Eating Disorders, 5%

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