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Therapeutic dietitian vs clinical dietitian

The differences between therapeutic dietitians and clinical 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 therapeutic dietitian and a clinical dietitian. Additionally, a therapeutic dietitian has an average salary of $60,038, which is higher than the $59,133 average annual salary of a clinical dietitian.

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

Therapeutic dietitian vs clinical dietitian overview

Therapeutic DietitianClinical Dietitian
Yearly salary$60,038$59,133
Hourly rate$28.86$28.43
Growth rate7%7%
Number of jobs6,21357,500
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 88%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age4242
Years of experience22

Therapeutic dietitian vs clinical dietitian salary

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

Therapeutic DietitianClinical Dietitian
Average salary$60,038$59,133
Salary rangeBetween $31,000 And $114,000Between $43,000 And $80,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-California
Best paying company-University of California
Best paying industry-Health Care

Differences between therapeutic dietitian and clinical dietitian education

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

Therapeutic DietitianClinical Dietitian
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 88%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common majorDieteticsDietetics
Most common collegeUniversity of Maryland - College ParkUniversity of Maryland - College Park

Therapeutic dietitian vs clinical dietitian demographics

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

Therapeutic DietitianClinical Dietitian
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 3.1% Female, 96.9%Male, 8.7% Female, 91.3%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 3.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 7.0% White, 72.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%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%
LGBT Percentage8%8%

Differences between therapeutic dietitian and clinical dietitian duties and responsibilities

Therapeutic dietitian example responsibilities.

  • Manage the anemia status of patients by reviewing necessary lab data and initiating or adjusting medication doses.
  • Provide individual and group nutrition counseling, including interactive nutrition and culinary sessions to low-income multicultural communities.
  • Provide individualized nutrition consultations for sports nutrition, weight-loss, diabetes, hypertension and hormonal changes.

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

Therapeutic dietitian vs clinical dietitian skills

Common therapeutic dietitian skills
  • Nutritional Risk, 47%
  • Nutritional Care, 30%
  • Medical Nutrition Therapy, 23%
Common clinical dietitian skills
  • Patients, 35%
  • Patient Care, 9%
  • Medical Nutrition Therapy, 7%
  • Home Health, 5%
  • Nutrition Services, 3%
  • Diabetes, 3%

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