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Patient care

Dietitian

Assesses what people eat and turns the science of nutrition into practical diet plans that treat illness and support recovery.

Dietitians work in hospitals, community clinics and GP surgeries, helping people with conditions such as diabetes, kidney disease, food allergies and swallowing problems. It suits someone who likes biology and chemistry but wants to spend most of the day talking with patients.

Also called Clinical dietitian, Registered dietitian or Outpatient dietitian.

At a glance

Way in
Bachelor's degree, often in dietetics, human nutrition and dietetics and biochemistry or physiology
Pay in the US
$76,400 a year, the medianFor dietitians and nutritionists, 2025
Pay in the UK
£32,000 starting to £48,000 with experience
US outlook
Much faster than average, 2025-2035
Suits you if
You like the science of food and want to use it face to face with patients.

Pay is a guide: it moves with the country, the employer, the sector and the years in the job. Figures from O*NET OnLine (US) and the National Careers Service (UK); see the sources below.

The work

What does a dietitian do?

  • Assess a patient's diet, weight and blood results to find out what needs to change
  • Draw up a personal eating plan with each patient and adjust it as their condition changes
  • Advise on tube and specialist feeding for patients who cannot eat normally
  • Run clinics and group sessions on topics such as weight, allergies and diabetes
  • Keep clear clinical notes and work alongside doctors, nurses and speech therapists

Where they work

  • NHS and private hospitals
  • Community health centres
  • GP practices
  • Nutrition research units

Skills

The skills a dietitian needs

  • Nutrition sciencebiochemistry, physiology and how disease changes needs
  • Listeninghearing what a patient really eats and what stops them changing
  • Clear explanationturning clinical advice into everyday food choices
  • Calculationenergy, protein and fluid needs from weight and lab results
  • Tact and patiencesupporting people through illness and setbacks
  • Record keepingaccurate, confidential notes on every patient

Route in

How to become a dietitian

  1. Take biology or chemistry at A level, or equivalent, with good grades in maths and English
  2. Complete an accredited dietetics degree or degree apprenticeship, or a postgraduate dietetics course after a related science degree
  3. Pass the supervised clinical placements that are built into the course
  4. Register with the national regulator before working under the protected title

Degrees people take

  • Dietetics
  • Human nutrition and dietetics
  • Biochemistry or physiology

In the UK, dietitians register with the HCPC after a course accredited by the British Dietetic Association; in the US, a graduate degree is now needed to sit the registered dietitian exam.

Practise for it

The quizzes and tools that fit

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Next to it

Careers to weigh against it

Sources

Where the facts come from

Written for biofideX from these public sources. The pay figures are theirs, copied as published, last read 2026-10-25.

Requirements differ by country and change over time; check with the body that registers the profession where you will work. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we'll correct it.

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