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WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A DIETITIAN, NUTRITIONIST, & COACH? #001
DIETITIAN?
NUTRITIONIST?
COACH?
What’s the difference?
When I give a lecture or speak with a new or potential patient one of the first messages I try to get across to each person is the importance to know who is educating you. This is especially important in healthcare, and with Dr. Google, artificial intelligence (AI), and social media influencers readily accessible to the public the message in topics surrounding health and nutrition can be very confusing. I hope to clear some of this up with the following information.
Always know who is educating you!
Dietitian
A Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) is an expert in diet and nutrition. They have a formal education which includes a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree in dietetics from an Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition & Dietetics (ACEND) accredited university.
How to become a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN)
After obtaining a degree in dietetics, they must complete a dietetic internship, which is a minimum of 1000 hours of practical experience and learning. ACEND oversees Dietetic Internship (DI) programs in order to ensure a foundational level of competency is achieved in each program. Different programs may emphasize different areas of expertise. Throughout the internship, future RDNs rotate through different areas of practice, such as clinical, food service, public health/community nutrition, etc., and any specialty area of practice, for example, sports nutrition or functional nutrition. These programs are highly competitive, and dietetic graduates often go through several rounds/years of applications before being matched to a program.
Once a degree and internship are mastered, future RDNs sit for a board exam.
Pass the exam and woo hoo! You are now a dietitian!
Requirements to maintain your RDN credential:
- 75 hours of continuing education (CEUs) every 5 years
- adhere to a scope of practice & code of ethics
- may need to become a Licensed Dietitian (each state in the US has specific laws)
Finally, working as an RDN, you have the opportunity to specialize in an area of practice via adding other credentials or completing certificates of training or training. See the examples of these below!
Nutritionist
How to become a nutritionist?
A “nutritionist“ is anyone with any level of formal or informal education or training, or nothing at all.
May have:
- Formal education: may have a degree in dietetics and have not been accepted into a dietetic internship yet or have pursued a post-grad clinical nutritionist credential such as the CCN or CNS.
- Certified Clinical Nutritionists (CCN) have extensive academic requirements and board exams prior to earning this credential.
- Board-certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS) also has rigorous academic requirements and a board exam
- Formal training: usually in addition to a healthcare credential to improve patient care
- Informal training: Online course (often no standard educational criteria, everyone passes)
- Formal education: may have a degree in dietetics and have not been accepted into a dietetic internship yet or have pursued a post-grad clinical nutritionist credential such as the CCN or CNS.
Or:
- No training, just access to the internet and a printer.
- No scope of practice or code of ethics.
Print your certificate and woo hoo! You are now a “nutritionist”!
My favorite example of “anyone” is when a physician speaking to a roomful of RDN’s at a conference said
“ Man, have you guys got your work cut out for you, I got my dog certified as a nutritionist.”
Coach
A “coach“ partners with a client, walking alongside them to support lifestyle or behavior change, to reach the client’s goals. There are many different types of coaches, trained to support special population-specific goals, not only in the area of health and wellness.
How to become a health coach?
A “coach“ is anyone with any level of formal or informal education or training, or nothing at all.
May have:
- Formal education: there are university degrees for coaching
- Formal training:
- Informal training:
- Many have no standard curriculum for educational criteria, everyone passes!
Board certification requirements:
- formal training/education, supervised practical hours; board exam; credentials awarded, adhere to a scope of practice and code of ethics, complete 36 continuing education units (CEUs)/3yr, recognized by health insurance
Or:
- No training, just access to the internet and a printer.
- No scope of practice or code of ethics.
So what’s the draw to quick trainings and low qualifications?
Dietitian, Nutritionist, & Coach
At Weston Nutrition & Wellness Eva Weston RDN, LD, NBC-HWC is a registered dietitian nutritionist who has the additional credential of national board-certified- health and wellness coach (NBC-HWC) through her training at the Mayo Clinic, subsequent practical hours, and board exam.
Eva has additional certificates of training in Adult Weight Management from the Commission for Dietetic Registration (CDR) & in Pediatric Food Allergy from Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE).
The initials behind a persons name have value. Always know who’s educating you!
In addition to being a qualified healthcare professional with specialized training to best support her patient population, Eva is a dietitian who believes in integrative care. Integrative care is a wholistic, personalized approach and translates to treating the whole person not only managing the diagnosis/disease/symptom. Shared decision-making plays a role between patient and practitioner to promote success and improve quality of life through the power of choice.