Nutrition and Dietetics
A dietitian alters their patient's nutrition based upon their medical condition and individual needs. Dietitians are the only healthcare professionals licenced to assess, diagnose, and treat nutritional problems. In Australia there is a distinction made between dietitians and other occupations in the nutrition and food science field, including that of nutritionist. The key difference between a dietitian and a nutritionist is that, in addition to or as part of their qualification in human nutrition, a dietitian has undertaken a course of study that included substantial theory and supervised and assessed professional practice in clinical nutrition, medical nutrition therapy and food service management. Therefore, in Australia, all dietitians are considered to be nutritionists however, nutritionists without a dietetics qualification cannot take on the specialised role of a dietitian. |