Opportunities, Challenges, and the Future of Dietetics Practice
In this episode of Nutrition 411, host Lisa Jones, MA, RDN, LDN, FAND, is joined by Caroline Susie, RDN, LD, to explore the evolving future of dietetics practice. They discuss how emerging forces—including AI, GLP-1 therapies, and the rise of wellness influencers—are reshaping the profession. The conversation highlights key opportunities for dietitians to enhance care delivery, advocate for their expertise, and expand their role in prevention and population health, while also addressing challenges such as misinformation, cost pressures, and the need to clearly differentiate evidence-based care in a competitive landscape.
TRANSCRIPT
Lisa Jones, MA, RDN, LDN, FAND: All right. All right. Well, welcome back to another episode. Thank you, Caroline. Susie, for joining us again.
Caroline Susie, RDN, LD: My gosh, such a delight.
Jones: Well, we were talking about the major shift in guidance or treatment. It sometimes brings both opportunity and challenge. So let's look ahead because I think it's important, and that's why this episode we're going to be focusing on opportunities, challenges, and the future of practice. And Caroline, what would you say to this question? What opportunities do you see for dieticians as nutrition guidance and pharmacological therapies continue to evolve? Because you said it earlier in one of the other episodes, everything's changing so quickly and you feel like daily things are changing.
Susie: I think it's not trying not to be scared of the change and embracing the change. And again, I think it's understanding how AI can help you at your job and help make things a little easier for you. And if it's on the flip side, if you think this is an opportunity to educate the public on, "Hey, I understand how that might look easy and that might be no cost to you, but here are the problems with that. Here, if you will, the opportunities onto why it's going to be beneficial to work with a dietician for your safety, A, B, C, D." I think instead of viewing it as a threat, viewing it as, how is it going to enhance my practice? And on the flip side, this is an opportunity for me to get out and to shout why I can't be replaced and why it's important, the value that I'm bringing to the table to support patients.
Jones: Yes, that's so true. And I was on that call the other day with some dieticians that were talking about their views on AI and how they think, and they were saying they view it as their assistant. And as long as you keep it in a lane instead of fearing it, how can it help me not prescribe ... You're still bringing your knowledge as a dietician to that, helping somebody lose weight, not asking them to create, but they can do some sort of assistant type things for you that don't require them. But obviously, and then somebody else said you need to make sure you're checking everything, which we've heard before. Oh
Susie: Yeah, yeah. We know it's not accurate, but it absolutely from call note taking to helping quickly analyze something or helping you quickly find a study, there are so many opportunities to help it enhance your practice. But on the flip side, we do have to battle. There's definitely a lot of ignorance out there where people think that it can replace us. And we all know that's not the case, but an opportunity for you to advocate for why, again, being your own salesperson, it's not going to replace your personality. It's not going to replace how you're working and those one-on-one opportunities with patients.
Jones: Yeah, you still have those opportunities. And then talking a little bit more about risks, whether it be clinically or professionally, what do you think that dieticians should proactively prepare for futuristic type things outside of AI? We covered that one as well.
Susie: Yeah, outside of AI. I mean, I don't have that crystal ball, but I do think what we're seeing more and more, again, are these wellness influencers that are driving change, which is frustrating to probably all of us that worked so hard and spent so much time to get these credentials behind our name. So I think a risk there is losing sight of that. And I think it's really important that you advocate for your licensure, that you advocate for your credentialing because it is a differentiator and it's all about evidence-based patient safety. So I think keeping an eye on that ball is really important. But also on the flip side, how do we continue to market and differentiate ourselves from some of these influencers? And whether that's leveraging content from the academy or just some basic education on who we are, what we do and how we're different, I think is really impactful to the market as people think about who they want to go to to receive nutrition-related information.
Jones: Yeah. And I really like the new campaign that was just released, I'm probably going to mess it up, a seat at the table. You have to look into it more, but we can also include that link as well. I think that that is helpful. And then something else just because of your employee-based wellness that you're knowledgeable in, how much do these changes really influence those programs or population health strategies?
Susie: So I think right now employers are struggling, especially if they're covering GLP-1 medications for weight loss, they're really struggling going to their CFO showing this double-digit increase on healthcare, double-digit increase on pharmacy. That's a really difficult thing. How are we going to pay for this? We don't want to just pass this cost over to our employees. What other strategies or interventions can we do to help lower this trend? And I think where dieticians enter the picture here is prevention's the name of the game. And I feel like right now everyone's calling it longevity. Longevity is prevention with a marketing person. Let's just be honest. Longevity is
About age and gender appropriate testing, screening, ensuring you have that preventive visit every year with your primary care provider. And I think that employers are really trying to ensure that employees have access to primary care providers. Are there any barriers there? Do we have any gaps when we're looking at our GO footprint? What are we going to do to solve for that? And I think that wellness ties into that. And wellness historically, I think some dieticians think that this is still giving lunch and learn vibes, and it's not. Wellness is the full picture. Wellness is enhanced care management. Wellness is strong utilization management. Wellness is supporting members that are living that are high risk and high acuity and polychronic. Wellness is also that moderate risk. What should we be doing for patients living with chronic conditions? Is there anything that could help us prevent this condition from progressing?
And then lastly, it's that lower tier, which I think historically is where we kind of sat in when we thought employer-based wellness programs on, all right, we're all going to do our walking challenges or we're going to be mindful in May and et cetera. And I think those absolutely still serve a purpose and drive a culture of wellness. But now more than ever with the cost pressures, it is really, where am I going to see an ROI and what can I do to make an impact financially than we've seen in years?
Jones: Yeah, that's such a great point summing that up. And the other thing too is a lot of dieticians that may be listening may not be as knowledgeable in this area. So if they had to, let's just say, take away one practical takeaway that can help them feel more confident navigating this new landscape, because sometimes it could be something that ... Well, everybody's heard of GLP once, mostly. I mean, I haven't really run into a dietician that's like, I don't know what that is, but we get plenty of education on it, but may not be an expert in it. So what would be one practical takeaway that they can just go away and do now that could kind of be futuristic?
Susie: I mean, I don't feel like you have to recreate the wheel, that you have so many tools and resources at your fingertips to help either communicate effectively, how do I correct misinformation or communicate effectively? How am I different from a chatbot or communicate effectively, how can I position myself in employer-based wellness programs? I think it's taking those tools and resources, and frankly, I know I've said it before, but go over to the academy's website, take a look at it, because there's wonderful things that you can do to take that, to feel more confident, have your talking points, to then be ahead of the curve here. But I do think as employers are focusing on prevention now more than ever, we're really trying to, through all the work the academy's doing, lobbying and everything going on in Washington, from the employer consulting side of the house, trying to educate employers on what the difference is between nutrition counseling and medical nutrition therapy, why there's a difference, how we can help with plan design changes to cover medical nutrition therapy, and have it be covered for more than just a patient living with obesity or hypertension or hyperlipidemia, and really casting a wider net.
So then dieticians who are listening to this, who are in one-on-one settings that are taking insurance, can get that higher reimbursement model. So it's a fight happening from multiple angles where we're positioning ourselves as the expert in something that's going to make an impact in patient help. But I think back to your question, what can you do to get more confidence? Know that you don't have to start from zero, not a problem. We have your back and there's tools and resources that can help you again over on at the Academy's website.
Jones: Thank you. So I think that kind of takes some pressure off because if you think about it, there's so many things as dieticians in our professions that we need to keep up with. So if we have, I don't want to use the word cheat sheet because that sheet has a lot. A little boat, like what you said earlier. Perfect. Well, thank you. Is there anything else you want to add about this topic in general or any of the series that we talked about?
Susie: Yeah, I think just being open. Change is going to happen. It's a very competitive space. How do we take that and use it to our advantage? So instead of fearing it, let's question, okay, how can we better position ourselves so that we're still the market differentiator on why we're viewed as the expert and should be viewed as the expert? So less freaking out and more of, okay, this is going to be okay. How do we band together to really communicate this to the public? So I hope that there's your inspo dieticians. Let's stick together. And what's that expression when the tide rises all boats lift? I feel like that’s where we are right now. It is wild. It is a wild time, but sticking together, we're going to raise all boats.
Jones: Yes. And then once we raise all boats, we can row them in unison together.
Susie: Painting such a beautiful picture, Lisa.
Jones: Yes, we are. Well, Caroline, thank you so much for sharing your insight, experience. And I would want to say refreshingly real perspective with us today. And thanks to our listeners for joining this episode of Nutrition 41, the podcast. Be sure to subscribe for more conversations that bring together the science, psychologies, and strategies behind effective nutrition practice. Until next time, continue leading with clarity, compassion, and evidence.
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