Why do Peds make 3 times as much as nutritionists.

[Puppet]

My true love and joy is nutrition. I went to bls.gov and found out nutritionists make around 50,000 a year and peds make around 130,000. What makes them earn such a higher paycheck. I'm not in it for the money but It doesnt make scense to go into to nutritionist, when i could be a ped.

So my question is what are the differences between peds and nutrionists besides kids vs. adults

 

[GeneGoddess]

Well, first, you have to have a doctoral degree (MD, DO) to be a pediatrician and I've met plenty of nutritionists who have only a BS or MS (I think I've met one PhD). Plus, there are nutritionists who specialize in kids' nutrition, so nutrition is not only adults. But I may not be understanding your question properly.

 

[edmadison]

My true love and joy is nutrition. I went to bls.gov and found out nutritionists make around 50,000 a year and peds make around 130,000. What makes them earn such a higher paycheck. I'm not in it for the money but It doesnt make scense to go into to nutritionist, when i could be a ped.

So my question is what are the differences between peds and nutrionists besides kids vs. adults

Pediatricians are physicians, nutritionists are not. Pediatritions diagnose and treat disease, provide preventitive care and give guidance to parents. Nutritionists have a much narrower role, confining their skill to their patient's dietary needs. A very important job, but much different.

Ed

 

[fourthyearmed]

Pediatricians are doctors who went to med school and are trained to take care of very sick children. Nutritionists are straight out of college and counsel people on what to eat. Does that explain why Peds makes 3X more?

 

[rastelli]

Without a doubt the lamest thread I have ever seen...

Gee, I wonder why clowns, mimes, and fake Santa's don't get paid as much as pediatricians. Afterall, they work with children too...

 

[14022]

Well, fake Santas do not make as much as pediatricians because they only work 2-3 months out of the year. I do not think it is fair to compare the two.

Also, mimes often find themselves stuck inside an invisible box. How can you expect a good living if you cannot get yourself out of a problem that doesn't exist? Not to mention the overhead from all the white body paint. Forget about it.

And clowns just scare the poo out of me so let's not talk about them

 

[SoonerBJJ]

LOL at rastelli and scholes. I think this is an attempt at a troll.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

Pediatricians are doctors who went to med school and are trained to take care of very sick children. Nutritionists are straight out of college and counsel people on what to eat. Does that explain why Peds makes 3X more?

Pediatricians are physicians, nutritionists are not. Pediatritions diagnose and treat disease, provide preventitive care and give guidance to parents. Nutritionists have a much narrower role, confining their skill to their patient's dietary needs. A very important job, but much different. Ed

With all due respect guys, the term "Nutritionist" can refer to either a dietitian (an RD) or a PhD or MD or MD/PhD or whatever who does research or medical practice in nutrition. In the US we usually use the term to refer to dietitians. Dietitians must complete an internship (usually 9-12 months) after college and then take an exam so they become a "Registered Dietitian" or RD. Many of these internships are combined with master's degree programs and give you an MS, RD in a 1.5-2 yr program. This is of value if you are interested in heading a dietetics program, etc.

There are many nutrition PhD training programs and people who get their PhD in nutrition often refer to themselves as "nutritionists" especially on a more global scale.

http://commprojects.jhsph.edu/degreematrix/detail_career.cfm?car=Nutritionist

Is a link to one program that is very well-known and calls its graduates "nutritionists" even though they get a variety of degrees.

There are also MD's and MD/PhD's whose medical practice is almost exclusively nutrition-related

http://nutrition.hhdev.psu.edu/faculty/adjunct/jensen.html

is a link to a very well-known one of these folks in the adult medicine world.

http://qcom.etsu.edu/nutrition/section5.htm

is a list of a lot of folks with doctoral level degrees who might call themselves "nutritionists", some of whom are dietitians, some are not.

Now then, as to the OP. If you really think nutrition is so important, but don't think that dietitians make enough money, why don't you go to medical school, or get a PhD and work in the field of nutrition?

Regards

OBP

Who calls himself a pediatrician and a nutritionist

 

[kristing]

My true love and joy is nutrition. I went to bls.gov and found out nutritionists make around 50,000 a year and peds make around 130,000. What makes them earn such a higher paycheck. I'm not in it for the money but It doesnt make scense to go into to nutritionist, when i could be a ped.

So my question is what are the differences between peds and nutrionists besides kids vs. adults

I started in grad school in nutrition, and I can honestly tell you that 50K a year is a HIGH figure for a dietician. It was one of my main gripes with the field, actually.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

I started in grad school in nutrition, and I can honestly tell you that 50K a year is a HIGH figure for a dietician. It was one of my main gripes with the field, actually.

http://www.eatright.org/Public/index_19614.cfm

I agree, 50K is a a bit higher than average,but not completely out of range (see ADA link above), for established RD's. By the way, I had my head bitten off (more or less) by the local ADA head the first time I ever gave a talk with the word "dietician" in it. In the US, the preferred spelling is "dietitian" but elsewhere in the world, it's usually the more British "dietician."

Back to writing a nutrition paper...

OBP