Dietitian and Physical Therapist

[Hokieboy]

Thanks

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[Hokieboy]

Hmmm I guess no one is familiar with this

 

[scrawnyguy]

This may not answer your question, but my wife is a dietitian. She went to a great school and attended one of the top internships in the country. She still has trouble finding a desirable position. A lot of the jobs out there seem to be part time. Most of the positions she has found are in hospitals, which really isn't her cup of tea. It seems like many of the desirable positions require a Master's degree. The pay isn't horrible but it's not great either. When we first started dating I was thinking of going into the same field but she convinced me otherwise. She loves her job but I think if she could do it all over again she would have become a PT.

 

[topher031888]

I don't see this combination as much help in getting a job, at least not doing both things. However, if you were to start your own business you could do some cool stuff. I worked with a PT who offered physical therapy and metabolic testing/weight loss programs. She loved doing both but she owned her own business. You could potentially do something similar and really set your practice apart from the competition.

 

[Watson27]

If you want to pursue both fields, you would probably have to own your own business and create the model for it. Hospitals and established clinics are not going to hire someone to do both positions, even if they are in need of both a PT and RD. It just isn't realistic. It's likely that if you become an RD and then go to PT school, you will end up working as a PT and the RD will be a nice side note on your resume. That being said, with the expanding wellness market, a combo PT/RD could be useful. Though you would have to offer the two services at distinctly different times if you are looking for insurance to reimburse you. There's no way that you could do a 90 minute PT & nutrition eval appointment unless your patients/clients pay out of pocket.

I don't see why you should be worried about keeping up with continuing ed. The hardest part would be getting your employer to pay for CME for both professions. If they hired a PT, they probably aren't going to pay for you to attend a dietetics conference.

Unless you have a strong passion and clear idea of how you will combine PT and RD, I would pick one and stick with it.

 

[a7rcana]

You need to look up your state's licensing board rules and regulations to determine what the requirements are for continuing education. Specifically, in my state, it requires 20 hours a year of documented continuing education. Your license could be removed if you do not complete the hours. I mean, skipping out on continuing education hours would just harm your practice wouldn't it? Keeping up to date on techniques and research is sort of integral to being a DPT. You wouldn't want PTs out there relying only on techniques they learned in school in the 1970s would you?

 

[Hokieboy]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I have some serious thinking to do.