Career as a Dietitian & Nutritionist: Courses, Scope, Jobs, Salary

Health is the greatest gift one can give to their family and the world. As the saying goes, “The greatest gift you can give to your family and the world is a healthy you.” Today, more people recognize the importance of well-being and are prioritizing a healthier lifestyle.

To make healthy choices and ensure proper nutrition for your body, you need a professional who can create a personalized diet plan. This is where the role of a dietitian becomes essential.

Dietitian and Nutritionists are the healthcare professionals who treats nutritional problems. They help the individuals maintian a healthy lifestle by providing dietary needs, planning menus, and instructing patients and their families about proper nutritional care.

Candidates interested in pursuing a career as a Registered Dietitian (RD) or Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) have to undergo a bachelor’s or a master’s program like B.Sc in Nutrition & Dietetics, M.Sc Clinical Nutrition etc

Candidates can find career opportunities in clinics & hospitals, sports organization, fitness centres, NGO’s and government health departments etc.

In this article, we will explore in detail about career as a Dietitian and Nutritionists. You will learn about eligibility criteria, admission process, top colleges and job opportunities.

What is a Registered Dietitian (RD)

A Registered Dietitian (RD) or Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) is a certified professional who prescribes a healthy diet plan and lifestyle changes to its patients.

These professional hold bachelor or master degrees having expertise in clinical nutrition, medical nutrition therapy, and dietary planning.

Also Check: Trending Courses after 12th

Types of Dietitians & Nutritionists

On the basis of specialization, work setting and target population, we can classify dietician & nutritionists as below:

• Clinical Dietitian: these professionals mainly works in hospitals, clinics, and under various healthcare settings.
• Sports Nutritionist: they work mainly with sports organization and advises athletes on diet and performance.
• Public Health Nutritionist:  Works in government health programs.
• Consultant Dietitian: Runs private practice or works in wellness centers.
• Food Service Dietitian: Manages nutrition in schools, businesses, and hospitals.

How to Become a Dietitian?

You will get the title of registered dietitian (RD) or registered nutritionists, if you are satisfying the following academic requirements:

• Earns the bachelor’s degree of science in dietetics.
• Undergo a 6 months internship from approved health-care facility, food service organization, or community agency to learn practical skills.
• Pursue a Postgraduation (PG diploma in Food Nutrition & Dietetics or M.Sc. in Foods & Nutrition/Clinical Nutrition/Dietetics)
• Obtain the license required for the status of dietitians and nutritionists as many states demands the license.

Specialized fields in Dietitian are as follows:

• Food and nutritional science
• Sports
• Food-Allergy
• Pediatrics
• Renal
• Oncological
• Gerontological nutrition

Courses & Programmes

To become a Dietitian or nutritionists in India, candidates can pursue diploma, undergraduate, postgraduate, and various certification courses.

Also Check: Popular Medical Courses after 12th

Diploma Courses

These are short term courses, usually for the duration of 1-2 years.  Candidates can pursue these courses after 12th (for Diploma) and bachelor degree for PG diploma.

• Diploma in Nutrition & Dietetics
• Diploma in Clinical Nutrition
• PG Diploma in Sports Nutrition
• PG Diploma in Public Health Nutrition

Undergraduate Courses

The undergraduate degree program are highly recommeded to the candidates, who wants to build their career as a dietitian or Nutritionists.  The course duration for these program is generally 3 years.

• B.Sc. in Nutrition & Dietetics
• B.Sc. in Food Science & Nutrition
• B.Sc. in Clinical Nutrition
• BSc Home Science with Food and Nutrition as a specialization

Postgraduate Courses

Candidates who want to specialize and become Registered Dietitians (RDs) must go for a PG degree. The duration of the program is 2 years.

• M.Sc. in Nutrition & Dietetics
• M.Sc. in Clinical Nutrition & Dietetics
• M.Sc. in Food & Nutrition
• M.Sc. in Dietetics & Food Service Management (For RD certification)

Academic and professional requirements to be a fully qualified dietitian may varies country to country. You can pursue the medical courses in dietetics fields listed below:

Also Check – Courses After 12th Science

Eligibility Criteria

Diploma Courses – Candidates must pass 10+2 from any stream. For PG diploma, candidates must pass bachelor’s program.

Bachelor’s Program – Candidates must pass 10+2 with PCB (Physics, Chemistry, Biology).

Master’s Program – Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition, Food Science, or related fields.

For Certification Program – Graduate and working professionals are eligible for these courses.

For admission to bachelor’s course, you have to clear the higher secondary examination with the requisite academic criteria.

Candidates must also qualify national level entrance exams like CUET 2025 for admission to top central universities in India.

Scope & Career

Dieticians helps in changing the diet of their patients by giving them a healthy diet schedule consisting of good amount of proteins, vitamins & fats. They assess, diagnose and treat nutritional problems of the individuals.

Dietitian are very high in demand in India and globally. Graduates with a degree and specialization in clinical nutrition, sports nutrition, public health nutrition, or food service management can find opportunities in hospitals, clinics, government organization, research organizations etc.

Candidates can become a registered dietitian after qualifying RD exam conducted by Indian dietitic association (IDA). The demand of qualified dieticians or nutritionists is increasing due to rising health awareness, preventive healthcare and lifestyle diseases.

The demand of dietitian is very high in India and other countries. Today everyone is health conscious or wish to be fit and healthy. For this, they generally contacts the dietitian to summarize their meal or provide nutritional advice. The overall scope of the dietitian is increasing regularly, you can find plethora of job opportunities in this field.

Nowadays, one who wants to earn as a dietician is also earning money through online platforms such as facebook, instagram & they are going good. After Covid-19 situation, people are more focused towards their diet & immunity. Also, one finds more easy to get all details about their health without going outside.

Tasks of Dietitians

What dietitians generally do?

• They directs the patients about the proper nutrition diet that one has to follow to remain healthy.
• Provides education to the people about food and nutrition issues.
• They advise people “What to eat” and “What to avoid”?
• Promotes knowledge about good eating habits and better nutrition by delivering sessions to large number of audiences including children age group also.
• They identify and controls the nutrition and dietary problems in human bodies.
• Involved in the research work of latest nutritional science.
• A dietitian deals with the patients having the problem of gaining and losing of weight (obesity, debility).
• Manage chronic conditions (high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity), etc.

A dietitian who meets all the academic and professional requirements in this field can apply for licenses as a registered dietitian or nutritionists.

Being a Dietitian is the right career for me?

If you have interest in knowing the food items or products that contains carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and proteins and are excited to solve the problem of people suffering from different health issues. Most importantly if you are fit, then you can choose your career as a dietitian.

Top Dietitian Colleges in India

Top colleges in India that offers dietitian or Nutritionists course are as follows:

• Lady Irwin College, Delhi University (Delhi)
• Institute of Home Economics, Delhi University (Delhi)
• National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) (Hyderabad)
• SNDT Women’s University (Mumbai)
• Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University (Chennai)
• Osmania University (Hyderabad)
• Amity University (Noida)
• IGNOU (for distance learning)
• Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda (Vadodara)
• University of Mumbai (Mumbai)
• University of Madras (Chennai)
• Bangalore University (Bangalore)

Career Prospects

Nowadays everyone wants to be fit and healthy! For this purpose, they are following dietitians and this will provide a good career opportunities for the dietitian.

Dietitians and nutritionists are demanded in hospital, nursing homes and government health department, hotels, cruise lines, etc. Also, work for state and local governments and recruited in the food and drink industry.

Some of the top recruiters are:

• AIIMS
• Apollo Hospitals
• Fortis Hospitals
• Max Healthcare
• Narayana Health
• State Government Hospitals
• KIMS

Many dietitians also work for the National Health Service (NHS). After becoming a dietitian, aspirants can work as a clinical dietitian, community dietitian, dietetic educator, food service dietician, therapeutic dietitian, registered dietitian, public health dietitian or research dietitian.

Job Profiles

• Clinical dietitian
• Community dietitians
• Management dietitians
• Consultant dietitian
• Food service dietitian
• Gerontological dietitians
• Pediatric dietitian
• Business dietitians
• Administrative dietitians
• Dietetic assistant

Salary

The salary of a dietitian and nutritionist in India varies based on the experience, specialization and the location.  The starting salary of the professional with zero to little experience starts with ₹3-5 LPA.

Professionals with 5 to 7 years of experience and working as a senior dietician, research nutritionist or any similar profile could earn in the range between ₹6-12 LPA.

Salaries may vary depeding upon the candidates specialization, hospitals, working experience. Online consultations and social media influence also help professionals earn more.

Books and Study Materials

• Dietetics by B Srilakshmi
• A Textbook of Foods, Nutrition and Dietetics-Paperback by M Raheena Begum
• Nutrition and Dietetics by Shubhangini Joshi
• Food Science by B. Srilakshmi
• Clinical Dietetics and Nutrition by Anita F P

For more information regarding Career as a dietitian and nutritionist, you can ask your queries below.