Careers
Nutritionist or Dietitian – What’s the difference?
Throughout the year I attend several Career Practitioner Seminars held by various tertiary institutions so that I can be informed of new course offerings, events and see the many changes physically taking place on campus. Although tertiary course guides provide a wealth of information on courses, nothing beats walking onto a campus to really get a sense of what it would be like to study with an institution. My experiences of my campus visits are passed on to students I meet, however I always strongly advise students to attend tertiary open days as part of their career research so they too can make informed decisions as to whether they see themselves studying in a place for two to four years.
Yesterday I attended Deakin University’s Careers Practitioner’s Day at the Burwood Campus and sat in on some interesting seminars, however one which stood out for me was the seminar on the difference between a Nutritionist or Dietitian. Here is what I found –
NUTRITIONIST (prevent disease)
* Apply scientific principles to influence environments and eating behavior to enhance nutritional status and prevent chronic disease
* Design, implement and evaluate nutrition-based interventions to improve wellbeing of individuals, communities and populations
* Range of qualifications – Bachelor with major in Nutrition, Graduate Certificate/Diploma, Master of Nutrition, PhD in Nutrition
* Voluntary registration with Nutrition Society of Australia or equivalent
Where to they Work? - Food Industry, Public Health, Consulting, Research, Media and Marketing
DIETITIAN (manage disease)
* A dietitian applies the science of nutrition to the feeding and education of groups of people and individuals in health and disease
* In Australia all dietitians are nutritionists, as all dietitians must have studied nutrition and nutrition science
* The key difference between a dietitian and a nutritionist is that, in addition to their qualification in human nutrition, a dietitian has undertaken a course of study that included substantial theory and supervised and assessed professional practice in clinical nutrition, medical nutrition therapy and food service management
* Registration gained with the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA)
Where do they work? – Hospitals, Sport Industry, Consulting, Public Health, Food Industry
To learn more on these two interesting careers I recommend a visit to our career’s website
Happy Career Researching😊
Voula Jakubicki
Careers Coordinator