Video:Day in the Life: Dietitian

Transcript:Day in the Life: Dietitian

Hi, I'm Sharon Richter for About.com. Today I'm going to talk to you about what it's like to be a Registered Dietitian.

Starting the Day as a Dietitian

So a typical day for me in private practice is I usually get to the office at about 7 am. I first go through my emails, in which I'll go through some medical journals, see if there is any new research that's come out. I go through the emails of my clients – sometimes they send me food journals, they may have questions on a new celebrity diet, a new research study that came out, and I'll answer those emails. Then I'll start seeing my clients, I usual see my clients from about 8 am until about 8 pm throughout the day. I see them for about 30 minute sessions and when there is a new client, it ranges from 45 to 60 minute sessions.

Working With Clients

So for each of my clients, when they come for initial consultation, I go through their medical and their dietary history. I want to know what diseases they may have and what diseases their families may have, and through their diet how we may be able to prevent them or decrease the onset of them. From there, we meet weekly and they keep a food journal. Each week, what we do is we go through a different meal, so we'll start with breakfast, then lunch, dinner, snacks, and then go through each food group.

Types of Clients a Dietitian Sees

So the various types of clients I see may come for weight loss, lowering cholesterol or diabetes education, I do get athletes, too, who want sports endurance. They also may come for food allergies, they may have been diagnosed with gluten intolerance, or they may just be coming for overall wellness. Other aspects of my business are consulting for other companies, I work for various food companies, it might be in the development of new products.

Other Duties of a Dietitian

It might be in the media world where I can do some television, it might be doing writing for different magazines or publications; sometimes it might be working with editors and talking about a new product and how it might work with the consumer, and how to sell the product, and can also be working with schools on how to improve the school lunches and how to get kids more active, how to talk to them about nutrition, and even just to talk to them about trying a new variety of food. It's so rewarding being a Registered Dietitian because I change people's lives just by teaching them how to eat healthy.

If you want to learn more about being a Registered Dietitian, visit About.com.