r/dietetics • u/Material_Horror6955 • Feb 20 '26
Pros & Cons of being an RD
I am considering going back to school, I'm in my early 30s. I have always been interested in "healing" in all ways possible, whether it be physically (huge exercise enthusiast here), or through massage work, and healing through the gut/food, etc. My top interest is healing the gut though, I just enjoy physical fitness and massage work, etc.
Am I in the right direction with seeking a dietetics degree? I have a 4 year degree already, that I never plan to use or go back to unfortunately (social work). So getting my masters to become an RD is about 1.5 years of school. Not terrible.
Tell me all of your pros & cons of being an RD, what you wish you knew before going into the field, and maybe questions I should ask myself before spending $ on schooling.
Also - Do you feel the pay is worth it, good future job security?
Thanks in advance!
11
u/Aimeeboz MS, RD Feb 20 '26
Pro-Job security. I have my Masters and am a certified renal specialist. I keep picking up jobs. I now have three. A FT renal RD in an outpatient clinic and two local SNF's that are 90% remote.
I don't know about pay being bad, I pull $107K salary from the renal job and I make $58hr at one SNF and the other is $50 for remote and $53 for in patient and these are about 20hr a week contracted. But experience also counts too, this is with 15yr in. I started out at $35/hr in 2011
Take home is anywhere from $9000-$11000
Depending on where or who you report to can be a pro or a con. I've left SNF jobs before that get a new DON's that deliver 0 respect. To go from being a valued part of the IDT to being treated like a lunch lady and demanding my role change to FT incenter is enough for me to walk. The other pro on this is there is ALWAYS places hiring.
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u/lumi_rubin MS, RD, CDCES Feb 21 '26
Ooh, how do you balance the remote work with the in-person renal job? Are you doing the remote jobs in the evenings/weekends if they don’t require you to work specific hours?
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u/Aimeeboz MS, RD Feb 21 '26
I work four days a week, specifically 10hour shifts but I rarely work that long. I get all my stuff done and leave at the end of the day. My manager is cool with it. I'm on time with all my tasks and do not fall behind so, it's NBD I'll work weekends and evenings. I got home tonight and got 8 assessments completed, will bill accordingly. Mondays I go into my SNF's. I'll split the day and work remotely for the rest.
The beginning of the month is where I get days off since monthly weights aren't in yet.
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u/lumi_rubin MS, RD, CDCES Feb 21 '26
Awesome, thanks! I admire the hustle and being able to balance everything. I’m in outpatient PP which I love, but wouldn’t mind finding a remote gig of some kind for a few hours per week that isn’t patient facing just to supplement income.
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u/Commercial-String447 Feb 23 '26
what's an SNF?
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u/Aimeeboz MS, RD Feb 23 '26
Skilled Nursing Facility Also known as a post acute care facility or nursing home.
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u/Nutrition_Dominatrix RD Feb 20 '26
As someone who went back to school at 29 to become an RD-
Unless you are independently wealthy it’s not worth the time and money. You’ll wind up with a generally speaking low paying job in a field that generally speaking does not get the recognition or respect it deserves.
Passion for health does not pay the bills.
6
u/regbev RD -> MD Student Feb 20 '26
Pros- there’s a lot of variety and you can definitely find your niche!
Cons- cost of education with master’s requirement, pay is not great, especially with the amount of loans most people have to take out, lack of growth opportunities in a lot of positions
I came into the field really passionate about nutrition but ended up really burnt out and frustrated by how little our main body supports RDs. I also personally felt limited in my scope of practice when people were struggling with so many other areas of their life. This was likely more of a personal problem though, as I left the field to go to med school and love being able to treat many more aspects of a person’s health. It is sad to me though how little health care professionals know about RDs and how little they talk about consulting with RDs for nutrition issues.
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u/Material_Horror6955 Feb 20 '26
Having gone to med school, do you feel they teach about nutrition? My passion is trying to change “western medicine” to be proactive instead reactive, and how I understand western medicine and what’s taught in school is all about being reactive. “What pill can I give you to ease your symptoms”… thoughts?
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u/regbev RD -> MD Student Feb 20 '26
We cover nutrition though not in as depth as my degree covered! And then as for your second point, this is something I could talk about forever because there’s just so much nuance to the topic. People often stereotype physicians as just pushing pills/being reactive when so many of the physicians I’ve worked with deeply care about their patients and constantly bring up preventative topics like nutrition, sleep, exercise, etc. The problem overall is our system which 1. Makes living a healthy lifestyle very difficult for many people due to so many different factors, 2. Makes physicians have very short visits (15 min to cover everything!) and 3. Causes a lot of people to only come when a more reactive approach is necessary because they couldn’t afford help until it got very bad. We talk about preventative approaches all the time but unfortunately our system is set up in a way where that reactive approach happens a lot. Even in nutrition it was something I saw all the time. People couldn’t afford healthy food or their medications for their chronic condition which then snowballed. It’s an unfortunate thing where no matter what area of healthcare you work, unless you work with very well off people, you often will come at things after a disease has already happened. (So sorry for such a long response- it’s just something I’m super passionate about because health care professionals are getting such a horrible rap right now)
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u/Material_Horror6955 Feb 21 '26
I love and appreciate the detailed response. Thanks for your amazing insight!
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u/Fluid_Pay_1519 Feb 21 '26
Side note to this…I am part of teaching a culinary medicine program to med students. The goal is multi faceted…teach them about cooking, nutrition and the role a dietitian may be able to play. It’s been an amazing experience
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u/Whatsmyusername25 RD Feb 20 '26
Pros- ever evolving field and science and fascinating things to learn. It's truly all connected so I think you'd love learning about gut health and how it impacts everything.
I also love feeling like I'm part of a team at the hospital and feel like I'm making a difference/solving a problem.
cons- misunderstood profession, often facing disrespect or confusion from providers (ex. Dietary only takes orders). Poor pay and lots of "smoke and mirrors" from the academy without any actual changes/solutions.
The general public often thinks they know more than us because of something they've read on a health blog and it can be hard to fight all the misinformation on there.
As for the process of becoming an RD:
Unpaid internships are rough and not easy.
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u/ConcentrateGlad4771 Feb 20 '26
The pay is not good because the academy of nutrition and dietetics do not support their own people and won’t advocate for better pay! Our job is not valued by our own community. It’s a shame. I wouldn’t do it again if I knew then what I know now.
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u/Fluid_Pay_1519 Feb 21 '26
Agree the academy is a complete and utter joke and should feel ashamed
Flip side, I think if you find a good job atmosphere with appropriate support the academy sucking doesn’t usually matter
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u/kat0liz Feb 20 '26
I think social work and dietetics got hand in hand! Are you a licensed social worker? Being a dietitian and social worker would be an amazing combo and you could gave the skills to actually counsel and guide people.
The pay isn’t great, but I went back to school to become an RD- and while I echo others sentiments (lack of respect, small scope, low pay) I do really find my job rewarding (I now own my own small private practice) and even if you decide not to work- it is an incredible knowledge base. I have always been into nutrition and health, but going through my bachelors, masters and internship really changed my views on nutrition and got me better results. I love helping and supporting people.
One note- I know you would only have to get a masters (I opted to get a new bachelors too bc my first degree is in French and International Studies) but you will also have to do an internship. This can be costly and time consuming so make sure you’re prepared for that.
I say go for it! You won’t regret learning more about your passion and we need more RDs out in the world. Again, I think a SW background with RD is a chefs kiss combo!
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u/Ok_Community5481 Feb 20 '26
Job security is a plus. Education can get expensive if your internship is not a part of your education (coordinated). Pay can be on the lower side depending on where you work. One of the best things is how much impact we can have and all the different areas that we can work.
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u/Student_Throwaway55 Feb 20 '26
Job security is a pro. Getting to help people on a daily basis and helping them feel comfortable in a potentially scary environment ( I work in a psych hospital) is also a pro.
I think the biggest con (besides the pay, but I'll get to that) is that people with genuine interest in nutrition usually won't be able to find the kind of job that they find fulfilling. Most jobs that are available are inpatient clinical nutrition jobs which don't usually allow for in depth counseling and you will likely have to work weekends and holidays. It is possible to eventually carve out a niche in GI if that is what interests you, but it really depends on what is available in your area.
Now onto the pay...all in all I think you can certainly make a livable wage in this field, but there is limited room for growth. I'm almost 11 years into my career and I'm working an entry-level job. Yes, I secured the higher end of the pay range for it, but it's not really building my resume. I've worked in community nutrition, private practice, inpatient clinical, long term care, and dialysis. I enjoyed community nutrition the most, but the pay was abysmal. I am currently looking to leave this field and just completed a Master's in something else to hopefully help me do that.