Job Responsibility and Activities Differ Between Registered Dietitians With Bachelor's and Master's Degrees

摘要

Minimal education for registered dietitians (RDs) includes a bachelor's degree and practice pro gram. 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 mas ter's RDs (M-RDs), registered 5 years or less. Chi-square and analysis of variance tests were usec to analyze differences between B-RDs and M-RDs at entry level (0-3 years of practice) and beyonc entry level ( + 3-5 years of practice). Six hundred (28.2%) RDs reported "administrator" as positior responsibility; 1524 (71.8%) marked "staff." A significantly higher proportion of entry-level M-RDi (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 num ber of individuals supervised differed significantly (P = .003) between beyond-entry-level B-RD; (M - 8.20, SE = 0.41) and M-RDs (M = 6.18, SE = 0.54). Of the 2393 RDs, 819 (34.2%) selectee "supervise/manage" and 2110 (88.2%) chose "assist others" for activity statements. Percentage; 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-RD: (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.