Last month, I walked through the doors that I had opened for myself almost four years ago.
I successfully passed my registration exam that now allows me to call myself a Registered Dietitian!
I want to explain what exactly that means in this post, starting from the beginning of this process. I will go into the dietetic internship in another post because it’s too much detail for one day!
1: Didactic Program in Dietetics
In order to sit for the credentialing exam, you have to complete 1200 hours of supervised practice, and in order to do that, you need to complete coursework from an ACEND (Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics) accredited program at a university/college.
I already had a bachelor’s degree before I decided to go back to school for nutrition, so I enrolled as a post-baccalaureate student in La Salle University’s Didactic Program in Dietetics. This means that I did NOT have to complete another bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree in order to apply for a dietetic internship. Some professions offer this, and I love it. I wouldn’t have been able to do this if it wasn’t for La Salle’s post-bacc program. Because my first degree is in communication/public relations from Drexel University, I already had some courses completed and I just had to fill in the gaps with nutrition, science, and a couple randoms (economics, statistics).
I can’t emphasize enough how wide the span of information is for dietitians. We have to be experts in almost every health topic. The classes I took as part of the DPD were:
Chemistry for Life Sciences
Organic Chemistry
Biochemistry
anatomy and physiology
clinical microbiology
Computer Science
Health Profession Statistics
Nutrition Through the Life Cycle
Food Science
community nutrition
principles of food service management
food prep and management
professional practice
medical nutrition therapy I and II
nutrition counseling and education
food and culture
sustainable food systems
[Almost] never did I say to myself, “Why am I learning this?” I thought that every day was relevant. I truly understand the role of nutrition on a cellular, biological, emotional, and spiritual level. I believe what sets dietitians apart from ‘nutritionists’ (another post for another day) is our rigorous training and testing. We have to prove in our dietetics program that we understand this stuff, and then we have to display our understanding in our internships.
2: Dietetic Internship
The dietetic internship is the real kicker. Interns are required to complete a minimum of 1200 hours of unpaid, supervised practice in order to sit for the credentialing exam. This could take anywhere from 8-12 months or longer. My internship was 8 months long, which is shorter, but I was at the hospital 40 hours a week minimum. It was a full-time job!
Interns are required to pay into their programs and do not receive any form of compensation, whatsoever. This was a huge factor for me to consider when I was making my decision to go back to school. I knew the internship was mandatory, and I had to decide if I was willing to take a year to not only work unpaid, but take on a huge expense (for reference, my internship was on the lower end financially and I spent $10,000 only for tuition. Books, transportation, materials, etc. not included). Obviously I decided to do it, but it was definitely one of the hardest decisions I’ve made.
In my dietetic internship I saw almost everything, and I will go over it in my internship post thoroughly. Overall, I got experience seeing all types of patients. I saw basic patients who were suffering from kidney failure, diabetes, heart failure, cancer, and gastrointestinal disorders. I saw patients who were being kept alive on ventilators, and those who had organ failure, third degree burns, gunshot wounds, broken bones, and injuries from car accidents. I wrote orders for tube feeding and total parenteral nutrition more than I think I educated patients that were actually able to eat. I couldn’t believe the part nutrition played in their survival and recovery.
3: RD Exam
After completion of the internship, the RD exam is the last hurdle before being able to put the letters ‘RD’ after your name. The exam is a minimum 125 question, multiple choice exam that covers four broad areas of dietetics: principles of dietetics, nutrition care for individuals and groups, management of food and nutrition programs and services, and foodservice systems.
I studied for the exam for about eight weeks. Some people need longer, some shorter. Mostly, I took eight weeks because during the coronavirus pandemic it was extremely difficult to get an appointment at a testing center. It just worked out that way.
While it’s true the exam covers basically everything we learned in our dietetics programs and practiced in our internships, it’s a MOUNTAIN of material for one exam. After spending a lot of time reviewing and sometimes re-learning things I had pushed out of my memory (accounting, plumbing, kitchen engineering, management theories and styles), I focused a lot of time on how to read and answer standardized testing questions. I also reviewed medical nutrition therapy until I thought my head was going to explode.
I passed on the first try, which I understand is no easy feat. Even though I studied and knew the material, I still felt like it was up in the air until I saw the confirmation on my computer screen.
4: Continuing Education
This will be short because I haven’t done any yet, but like all other health professions RDs are required to complete a certain number of continuing education hours every five-year period. There are rules on what counts, as it must line up with a professional development portfolio that was created by the RD based on his/her interests and practice area.
It is ESSENTIAL to our profession that we keep up with the latest nutrition research, dietary guidelines, new food products, popular diets and counseling techniques. We are the nutrition experts and leaders.
What is the takeaway?
The takeaway of me sharing all of this information is that registered dietitians know. their. shit.
The topics I listed in this post honestly just scrape the surface of what we have to know on a daily basis, depending on our field and practice area. I want the public to value what we have to offer as RDs and trust us to lead you in the right direction rather than trusting an influencer with absolutely NO nutrition training.
We jump through all the hoops to prove our credibility because we know that’s the only way to serve the public. The more we know, the more you know. The better we are, the better we can serve you.
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