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Dietetic internship vs community dietitian

The differences between dietetic interns 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 dietetic internship and a community dietitian. Additionally, a dietetic internship has an average salary of $64,038, which is higher than the $61,786 average annual salary of a community dietitian.

The top three skills for a dietetic internship include patients, diabetes education and medical nutrition therapy. The most important skills for a community dietitian are medical nutrition, health education, and heart disease.

Dietetic internship vs community dietitian overview

Dietetic InternshipCommunity Dietitian
Yearly salary$64,038$61,786
Hourly rate$30.79$29.70
Growth rate7%7%
Number of jobs52,76516,585
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 80%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age4242
Years of experience22

Dietetic internship vs community dietitian salary

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

Dietetic InternshipCommunity Dietitian
Average salary$64,038$61,786
Salary rangeBetween $30,000 And $132,000Between $30,000 And $123,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between dietetic internship and community dietitian education

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

Dietetic InternshipCommunity Dietitian
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 80%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common majorDieteticsDietetics
Most common collegeUniversity of Maryland - College ParkUniversity of Maryland - College Park

Dietetic internship vs community dietitian demographics

Here are the differences between dietetic interns' and community dietitians' demographics:

Dietetic InternshipCommunity Dietitian
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 10.2% Female, 89.8%Male, 4.1% Female, 95.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 7.8% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 9.8% White, 67.1% 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 dietetic internship and community dietitian duties and responsibilities

Dietetic internship example responsibilities.

  • Collaborate with diabetes educator to achieve AADE accreditation for the diabetes education program and to provide education as an instructor.
  • Follow up with physician consults, educate patients on nutrition, and take part in IDT meetings and ICU rounds.
  • Complete clinical dietetic rotations which also include specialty rotations in pediatrics, kidney/liver transplant, oncology, and critical care.
  • Acquire excellent interdisciplinary communication skills through ICU and nursing rounds.
  • Communicate breastfeeding, proper infant feeding practices, and provide nutrition education to WIC participants.
  • Work alongside translators in culturally diverse environment to education patients on diabetes, hypertension and healthful eating.
  • 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.

Dietetic internship vs community dietitian skills

Common dietetic internship skills
  • Patients, 23%
  • Diabetes Education, 5%
  • Medical Nutrition Therapy, 5%
  • Oncology, 4%
  • Nutrition Assessments, 4%
  • Long-Term Care, 4%
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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