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Consultant dietitian vs outpatient dietitian

The differences between consultants dietitian 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 consultant dietitian and an outpatient dietitian. Additionally, an outpatient dietitian has an average salary of $62,717, which is higher than the $59,637 average annual salary of a consultant dietitian.

The top three skills for a consultant dietitian include patients, nutrition assessments and weight loss. The most important skills for an outpatient dietitian are patients, medical nutrition therapy, and patient care.

Consultant dietitian vs outpatient dietitian overview

Consultant DietitianOutpatient Dietitian
Yearly salary$59,637$62,717
Hourly rate$28.67$30.15
Growth rate7%7%
Number of jobs10,58410,972
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age4242
Years of experience22

What does a consultant dietitian do?

Consultant Dietitians are experts in food and nutrition. They explain nutrition issues to the public, promote healthy nutrition through giving talks to groups about nutrition and diet, and asses clients health needs and diet.

What does an outpatient dietitian do?

An Outpatient Dietitian is responsible for providing medical nutrition therapy, such as nutrition assessment, nutrition support, patient intervention, and education. They also identify the educational needs of others, develop formal educational training programs or classes, and teach or instruct others.

Consultant dietitian vs outpatient dietitian salary

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

Consultant DietitianOutpatient Dietitian
Average salary$59,637$62,717
Salary rangeBetween $42,000 And $82,000Between $38,000 And $102,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between consultant dietitian and outpatient dietitian education

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

Consultant DietitianOutpatient Dietitian
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common majorDieteticsDietetics
Most common collegeUniversity of Maryland - College ParkUniversity of Maryland - College Park

Consultant dietitian vs outpatient dietitian demographics

Here are the differences between consultants dietitian' and outpatient dietitians' demographics:

Consultant DietitianOutpatient Dietitian
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 7.1% Female, 92.9%Male, 7.5% Female, 92.5%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 10.1% White, 66.1% 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 Percentage8%8%

Differences between consultant dietitian and outpatient dietitian duties and responsibilities

Consultant dietitian example responsibilities.

  • Manage the anemia status of patients by reviewing necessary lab data and initiating or adjusting medication doses.
  • Provide individual outpatient diabetes, weight management and cardiovascular counseling.
  • Deliver medical nutrition therapy to patients, and offer culturally appropriate nutrition education to patients and their families.
  • Formulate menus and nutritional plans of care for regular and therapeutic diets base on medical/physical condition of patients.
  • Provide nutrition counseling for pediatric medical conditions including poor growth, feeding difficulties and food allergies.
  • Provide nutrition counseling & diabetes education to individuals in private practice setting.
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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.

Consultant dietitian vs outpatient dietitian skills

Common consultant dietitian skills
  • Patients, 17%
  • Nutrition Assessments, 9%
  • Weight Loss, 6%
  • Medical Nutrition Therapy, 6%
  • Long-Term Care Facilities, 5%
  • Nutrition Education, 5%
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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