What Is The Difference Between Dietetics And Nutrition? Find Out How To Become A Registered Dietitian.

In this era of growing health and fitness awareness, nutrition has become an increasingly important field of study. There is often some confusion between the roles of Nutritionists and Dietitians. Whether you aim to become a dietitian, nutritionist, food scientist, or dietary consultant, nutrition courses in the UK will lay a solid foundation for your career development. 

Nutrition is a vital discipline concerning human health and diet. Universities and colleges in the UK offer a wide variety of Dietetics programmes, allowing students to choose the most suitable program based on their personal interests and career goals. You can select from basic nutrition principles to specialized areas, such as clinical nutrition, human nutrition, physiology, pathology, public health nutrition, or food science. These courses combine theory and practice, developing students' professional skills and practical abilities through internships, lab work, and field studies. The clinical nutrition therapy practice included in the Dietetics courses allows students to encounter cases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and obesity, enabling them to understand the causes of these diseases and their comfortable treatments. 

In contrast, courses in Nutrition involve less patient interaction and lack nutritional therapy internships. However, students will still learn related nutrition courses to provide consultations, develop daily menus, and offer everyday health improvement advice, but they cannot provide medical nutritional treatment to patients. 

1. The most direct route is through a three-year accredited Dietetics bachelor's program. Upon successful completion of the course and internship experience, students can apply for professional qualifications in the UK and return to Hong Kong to practice. 

2. If a student pursues a bachelor's degree in Nutrition / Food Science, they need to enroll in a two-year Master of Dietetics program. After completing the course and relevant internship experience, they can apply for professional qualifications in the UK and return to Hong Kong to practice. 

The starting salary for a dietitian averages HKD 35,775 per month. 

Source: Hospital Authority Hong Kong 

University of Leeds 

University of Plymouth 

University of Surrey 

Newcastle University 

Queen's University Belfast 

University of Nottingham 

Ulster University 

HKDSE：554-555 (Requires Biology or Chemistry) 

IELTS： 7.0 

For those who are applying for Dietetics programmes will be interviewed.