PRACTICE APPLICATIONS President’s Page
Meeting the Needs of the Future Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. —Nelson Mandela
O
UR ACADEMY IS 75,000þ strong and is positioned to change the world. We will do so by challenging the growers of food, the policy makers, and industry to develop policies and products that will provide optimal health throughout life. The challenge is, it will require far more than 75,000 nutrition and dietetics practitioners to get the job done. A study by the Lewin Group projects a 1% increase in the supply of RDNs compared to a 3% annual increase in demand.1 I want to share with you what the Academy has done and is doing to increase the number of RDNs as well as some of the challenges that still need to be addressed.
MEETING MARKET DEMAND As demand for dietetics care rises, Academy initiatives help to increase both the quantity and quality of available practitioners. The number of Didactic Program in Dietetics graduates has increased 24% in the past 5 years, from 4,996 to 6,184. The number of Coordinated Program graduates has increased 35% in the past 5 years, from 625 to 847. Supervised practice options have also increased in the past 5 years. The number of internship openings has increased 19%, from 2,476 to 2,963. The Individualized Supervised Practice Pathway was launched in 2011; since then, 44 programs have been started, with 140 individuals completing a program. A preceptor database was launched in 2013, with 743 preceptors currently registered. As the number of graduates grows, the education requirement for becoming an RDN is being elevated as well. To provide greater depth of knowledge and skills needed for future practice the Council on Future Practice’s visioning report, released in 2012, recommended the requirement for future entry-level RDNs be a minimum of a graduate degree.2 Two years later, the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) changed the ª 2015 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
entry-level registration eligibility education requirement for RDNs, beginning in 2024, from a baccalaureate to a graduate degree (see www.cdrnet.org). Meanwhile, the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) is using evidence-based practice information, existing research, and environmental scan data, and collecting additional stakeholder and marketplace data, to identify the roles of future practitioners, the education level required to fill those roles, and the needs of the marketplace. An ACEND-appointed expanded standards workgroup is exploring development of degree-based standards for education programs (more information at www.eatright.org/acend).
WHAT ARE OUR CHALLENGES? A significant challenge in meeting market demand for RDNs is that demand for supervised practice spots (5,140 in 2014) far exceeds the number of available spots (2,836 in 2014). Also, moving the entrylevel degree requirement to a graduate degree will require many more doctoralprepared RDN faculty members. To meet the demand for supervised experience opportunities:
Increased numbers of practitioners are needed to serve as preceptors. Increased numbers of internship programs are needed, especially in nonhospital settings. Increased numbers of simulations need to be developed that allow students to learn competencies in simulated rather than real settings. Innovative strategies are needed for providing supervised experiences.
To meet the future need for doctoralprepared faculty, increased numbers of RDNs need to pursue doctoral studies and shift to careers in education.
MY CHALLENGE TO YOU We can meet these challenges. RDNs: Please sign up to be a preceptor and help reduce the number of graduates who have no way to become credentialed (http://www.eatright.org/
Sonja L. Connor acend/PreceptorSignUp.aspx?state¼ Welcome). Helpful resources include membership in the Nutrition and Dietetics Educators and Preceptors dietetic practice group (http://www.ndepnet. org/), which provides access to materials and networking. The SP Kit is a complete set of materials for developing, improving, and delivering supervised practice experiences ([email protected]). Educators: Please consider earning a doctorate and help train future dietetics students who will need at least a master’s degree to become an RDN. Academy, ACEND, and CDR Board members: Please make it a high priority to think outside the box and find ways to educate and credential the supply of nutrition and dietetics practitioners who will be needed in the coming years and decades to change the world. If you wish to share your experiences, or if I can provide you with help to be successful in your efforts, e-mail [email protected]. Sonja L. Connor, MS, RDN, LD, FAND [email protected] http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2014.11.006
References 1.
Hooker RS, Williams JH, Papneja J, Sen N, Hogan P. Dietetics supply and demand: 2010-2020. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2012;112(suppl 1):S75-S91.
2.
Kicklighter JR, Cluskey MM, Hunter AM, Nyland NK, Spear BA. Council on Future Practice visioning report and consensus agreement for moving forward the continuum of dietetics education, credentialing, and practice. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2013;113(12):1710-1732.
JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS
11
Meeting the Needs of the Future Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. —Nelson Mandela
O
UR ACADEMY IS 75,000þ strong and is positioned to change the world. We will do so by challenging the growers of food, the policy makers, and industry to develop policies and products that will provide optimal health throughout life. The challenge is, it will require far more than 75,000 nutrition and dietetics practitioners to get the job done. A study by the Lewin Group projects a 1% increase in the supply of RDNs compared to a 3% annual increase in demand.1 I want to share with you what the Academy has done and is doing to increase the number of RDNs as well as some of the challenges that still need to be addressed.
MEETING MARKET DEMAND As demand for dietetics care rises, Academy initiatives help to increase both the quantity and quality of available practitioners. The number of Didactic Program in Dietetics graduates has increased 24% in the past 5 years, from 4,996 to 6,184. The number of Coordinated Program graduates has increased 35% in the past 5 years, from 625 to 847. Supervised practice options have also increased in the past 5 years. The number of internship openings has increased 19%, from 2,476 to 2,963. The Individualized Supervised Practice Pathway was launched in 2011; since then, 44 programs have been started, with 140 individuals completing a program. A preceptor database was launched in 2013, with 743 preceptors currently registered. As the number of graduates grows, the education requirement for becoming an RDN is being elevated as well. To provide greater depth of knowledge and skills needed for future practice the Council on Future Practice’s visioning report, released in 2012, recommended the requirement for future entry-level RDNs be a minimum of a graduate degree.2 Two years later, the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) changed the ª 2015 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
entry-level registration eligibility education requirement for RDNs, beginning in 2024, from a baccalaureate to a graduate degree (see www.cdrnet.org). Meanwhile, the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) is using evidence-based practice information, existing research, and environmental scan data, and collecting additional stakeholder and marketplace data, to identify the roles of future practitioners, the education level required to fill those roles, and the needs of the marketplace. An ACEND-appointed expanded standards workgroup is exploring development of degree-based standards for education programs (more information at www.eatright.org/acend).
WHAT ARE OUR CHALLENGES? A significant challenge in meeting market demand for RDNs is that demand for supervised practice spots (5,140 in 2014) far exceeds the number of available spots (2,836 in 2014). Also, moving the entrylevel degree requirement to a graduate degree will require many more doctoralprepared RDN faculty members. To meet the demand for supervised experience opportunities:
Increased numbers of practitioners are needed to serve as preceptors. Increased numbers of internship programs are needed, especially in nonhospital settings. Increased numbers of simulations need to be developed that allow students to learn competencies in simulated rather than real settings. Innovative strategies are needed for providing supervised experiences.
To meet the future need for doctoralprepared faculty, increased numbers of RDNs need to pursue doctoral studies and shift to careers in education.
MY CHALLENGE TO YOU We can meet these challenges. RDNs: Please sign up to be a preceptor and help reduce the number of graduates who have no way to become credentialed (http://www.eatright.org/
Sonja L. Connor acend/PreceptorSignUp.aspx?state¼ Welcome). Helpful resources include membership in the Nutrition and Dietetics Educators and Preceptors dietetic practice group (http://www.ndepnet. org/), which provides access to materials and networking. The SP Kit is a complete set of materials for developing, improving, and delivering supervised practice experiences ([email protected]). Educators: Please consider earning a doctorate and help train future dietetics students who will need at least a master’s degree to become an RDN. Academy, ACEND, and CDR Board members: Please make it a high priority to think outside the box and find ways to educate and credential the supply of nutrition and dietetics practitioners who will be needed in the coming years and decades to change the world. If you wish to share your experiences, or if I can provide you with help to be successful in your efforts, e-mail [email protected]. Sonja L. Connor, MS, RDN, LD, FAND [email protected] http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2014.11.006
References 1.
Hooker RS, Williams JH, Papneja J, Sen N, Hogan P. Dietetics supply and demand: 2010-2020. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2012;112(suppl 1):S75-S91.
2.
Kicklighter JR, Cluskey MM, Hunter AM, Nyland NK, Spear BA. Council on Future Practice visioning report and consensus agreement for moving forward the continuum of dietetics education, credentialing, and practice. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2013;113(12):1710-1732.
JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS
11
