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Therapeutic dietitian vs community dietitian

The differences between therapeutic 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 therapeutic dietitian and a community dietitian. Additionally, a community dietitian has an average salary of $61,786, which is higher than the $60,038 average annual salary of a therapeutic dietitian.

The top three skills for a therapeutic dietitian include nutritional risk, nutritional care and medical nutrition therapy. The most important skills for a community dietitian are medical nutrition, health education, and heart disease.

Therapeutic dietitian vs community dietitian overview

Therapeutic DietitianCommunity Dietitian
Yearly salary$60,038$61,786
Hourly rate$28.86$29.70
Growth rate7%7%
Number of jobs6,21316,585
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 88%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age4242
Years of experience22

Therapeutic dietitian vs community dietitian salary

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

Therapeutic DietitianCommunity Dietitian
Average salary$60,038$61,786
Salary rangeBetween $31,000 And $114,000Between $30,000 And $123,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between therapeutic dietitian and community dietitian education

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

Therapeutic DietitianCommunity Dietitian
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 88%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common majorDieteticsDietetics
Most common collegeUniversity of Maryland - College ParkUniversity of Maryland - College Park

Therapeutic dietitian vs community dietitian demographics

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

Therapeutic DietitianCommunity Dietitian
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 3.1% Female, 96.9%Male, 4.1% Female, 95.9%
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, 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 therapeutic dietitian and community 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.

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.

Therapeutic dietitian vs community dietitian skills

Common therapeutic dietitian skills
  • Nutritional Risk, 47%
  • Nutritional Care, 30%
  • Medical Nutrition Therapy, 23%
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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