Careers of registered dietitian nutritionist and certified nutritionist present differences
By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
They both would tell you to quit eating so many potato chips and start eating more veggies.
So, what’s the difference between a registered dietitian nutritionist (RD) and a certified nutritionist (CN) or a certified nutrition coach?
Some of the confusion lies in the name. A few years ago, registered dietitians began going by “registered dietitian nutritionist” or just “nutritionist” as a more consumer-friendly approach. “Dietitian” sounds restrictive. Who wants to go on a diet? “Nutritionist” sounds like someone focused on good nutrition. Although it’s mainly marketing, the moniker update can make it difficult for some people to understand the differences between the two.
RDs typically function within a medical setting to address specific diagnoses or health goals.
“Registered dietitians are widely trained as clinicians,” said Dana Ingebretson, master’s trained registered dietitian, certified diabetes educator, certified dietitian nutritionist and chair the Wellness Department at Neighborhood Health Center in Buffalo. “We can assess a person from multiple aspects: nutritionally, psychosocially, ability to change, counseling techniques, interpreting research. A nutritionist may or may not be trained in multiple ways, focusing more on nutrition, not in terms of assessing or being able to counsel. A lot of nutrition care is not just about food.”
One thousand supervised hours of interning and a bachelor’s degree is required to sit for the registered dietitian exam and as of January, that bar will be raised to the master’s level for new internships. Ingebretson already has a master’s degree. In addition, once the nationally recognized credential is bestowed, the registered dietitian must complete 75 credit hours of continuing education every five years.
“You won’t find a certified nutritionist working in healthcare because they can’t bill insurance companies,” Ingebretson said. “You might find one running a practice where they charge out of pocket. Someone who is a pharmacist or medical doctor might take a six-month course and get training, too. Certified nutritionists can give good, science-based information, but it’s hard to practice this alone.”
She said that programs such as the American Nutrition Association and Precision Nutrition are examples of programs that provide good training.
To become a certified nutritionist requires completing a few weeks to six months of classes on the basics of macro and micronutrients. CNs, also sometimes called nutrition coaches, typically function within settings such as a health foods store, wellness center or, like Sean Rohrback, a gym. Rohrback owns L&S Fitness in Rochester and is a certified nutritionist through Precision Nutrition. He said he completed his coursework in a total of 18 months.
Of course, programs to become a CN or nutrition coach vary, but Rohrback said that his coursework was “a deep dive into the science of nutrition, understanding the ins and outs from scientific perspective and the psychology of working with clients. It had practical work with case studies and understanding how to apply the information to help clients attain good health. It’s not just nutrition but emotional and existential and environmental health and social health and mental. It looks at the person as a whole and how the coach can guide them to better decisions.”
He recognizes that the RD prescribes meal plans for specific ailments and diseases—duties outside of his scope—and he sticks with helping people make better nutritional choices, paired with stress reduction and physical activity.
Rohrback hopes to eventually complete coursework to become a nationally board-certified health coach. A father-to-be, Rohrback is also working on pre- and post-natal certification through Girls Gone Strong to help women in those stages of motherhood.
“What we focus on here is to help people move better and get stronger,” he said of L&S. “It’s an overall more sustainable way they can work out and be a strong leader in life and do what you want. It’s about how to help people from a movement standpoint. We help people who’ve had surgery and have done rehabilitation. We’re the next step.”