CDR change in degree requirements

[strivn2bhealthy]

I read the following on a university site regarding their degree in Nutrition. Interested in your thoughts about why they would change this or what they might hope to gain by this change?

"The Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR), the credentialing agency for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, announced a change in their eligibility requirements that in 2024, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics will require registered dietitians to hold at least a Master's degree."

Thanks!

[JeffN]

I read the following on a university site regarding their degree in Nutrition. Interested in your thoughts about why they would change this or what they might hope to gain by this change?

"The Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR), the credentialing agency for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, announced a change in their eligibility requirements that in 2024, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics will require registered dietitians to hold at least a Master's degree."

Thanks!

This has been in the works for some time and I have been a proponent of it even long before it was being considered, even when I was in school back in the early 1990's.

I even wrote about that on these boards back in 2008 when I first started posting here.

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=6022&p=41239&#p41239

One other issue, is that for most health care professions, a Masters is the minimum acceptable degree and for many a PhD or primary care doctor degree is needed. Not so with RDs. You can get a Bachelors Degree and become an RD. I personally think that all RDs should be required to have a Masters Degree that includes a thesis.

Dietitians are one of the few health care professions that you can actually get a job working with clients without a Masters or PhD. It is one of the reason our reimbursement has been so low and also one of the reasons that even in the traditional field, they get little respect.

Besides all that, having to do a Thesis or research project, is a very valuable lesson in understanding many aspects of research. In addition, there is quite a bit of course work that is of value that can't be covered in just the BS degree.

In Health
Jeff