Job responsibility and activities differ between registered dietitians with bachelor's and master's degrees Article

Kotkin, S, Enrione, EB. (2011). Job responsibility and activities differ between registered dietitians with bachelor's and master's degrees . TOPICS IN CLINICAL NUTRITION, 26(4), 282-292. 10.1097/TIN.0b013e318238e168

cited authors

  • Kotkin, S; Enrione, EB

authors

abstract

  • Minimal education for registered dietitians (RDs) includes a bachelor's degree and practice program. Studies have not established whether the level of college education affects employment. A secondary analysis of the 2005 Dietetics Practice Audit data determined whether responsibility, individuals supervised, and activities differed between 1626 bachelor's RDs (B-RDs) and 767 master's RDs (M-RDs), registered 5 years or less. Chi-square and analysis of variance tests were used to analyze differences between B-RDs and M-RDs at entry level (0-3 years of practice) and beyond entry level (+3-5 years of practice). Six hundred (28.2%) RDs reported "administrator" as position responsibility; 1524 (71.8%) marked "staff." A significantly higher proportion of entry-level M-RDs (31.9%, n = 137) selected "administrator" than B-RDs (24.2%, n = 240) whereas a significantly higher percentage of B-RDs (75.8%, n = 753 vs M-RDs: 68.1%, n = 293) marked "staff" (P = .003). Six hundred nine RDs (26.1%) supervised an average of 6.81 (SE = 0.21) individuals. The number of individuals supervised differed significantly (P = .003) between beyond-entry-level B-RDs (M = 8.20, SE = 0.41) and M-RDs (M = 6.18, SE = 0.54). Of the 2393 RDs, 819 (34.2%) selected "supervise/manage" and 2110 (88.2%) chose "assist others" for activity statements. Percentages for "supervise/manage" did not differ significantly between entry-level B-RDs and M-RDs (P = .10) and beyond-entry-level B-RDs and M-RDs (P = .69). Entry-level B-RDs (89.2%, n = 985) and M-RDs (84.3%, n = 419) differed significantly when selecting "assist others" (P = .006). The majority of RDs in this study had "staff" responsibility, assisted others, and did not supervise individuals. Years of experience more than education may affect the responsibility and individuals supervised. Copyright © 2011 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

publication date

  • October 1, 2011

published in

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 282

end page

  • 292

volume

  • 26

issue

  • 4