Figure 4.

Description of the 7 themes and corresponding example quotations from global and US-based expert interviews.

Theme description	Theme summary	Example quotation(s)
RDNs have significant capacity to have roles in public health and community nutrition fields.	RDNs should have roles in both clinical and public health and community nutrition settings.	“When there’s so much nutrition information out there and so many people who [aren’t] experts, RD(N)s can cut through the clutter and really . . . bring a very credible voice to the [public health nutrition] space.” (US-based expert) “We need to address public health in a multidisciplinary way. . . . For having that holistic view, you have to include several professionals and definitely dietitians should be one of those.” (Global expert)
The skill sets required to work in public health nutrition and/or community nutrition extend beyond current RDN training and education.	Many of the skills required to succeed in public health and community nutrition extend, in some cases, beyond those typically acquired in current RDN education and training. Specifically, participants mentioned these additional skills: knowledge of biostatistics and epidemiology, data analysis, awareness of social determinants of health, understanding community needs, grant writing, budget and resource management, personnel management, and in some cases, speaking multiple languages. Currently, public health professionals are generally more prepared to perform this broad range of skills than the RDN.	“We would rather hire somebody without the RDN that has population-based skills than hire somebody with the RDN that doesn’t understand population health.” (US-based expert) “We are living in a very difficult time in [my country], and . . . how to make decisions of what to do with those resources, it’s very hard sometimes.” (Global expert)
The current education model for RDNs needs increased emphasis on public health and community nutrition for RDNs to enter this area of practice.	Nutrition and dietetics programs should increase emphasis on public health and community nutrition. US-based experts suggested that the Academy has a role in catalyzing this change in several ways: by developing relationships with public health nutrition organizations and by rethinking the current RDN education and training model in terms of the public health experience. One participant believed that the existing dietetics programs in the United States adequately prepare dietitians to work in community nutrition by fostering individual and small-group counseling skills but noted that public health nutrition skills are not rigorously cultivated.	“In terms of public health nutrition—that’s the field I know best—health departments really struggle to get people with the combination of the strong nutrition training and the public health training.” (US-based expert) “In our public health nutrition graduate program, probably about a quarter to maybe a third of our faculty are RDNs. That is a preference, but it’s hard to find people with public health nutrition-specific training and the RDN [credential] at the doctoral level.” (US-based expert)
Advanced degrees, and specifically the MPH degree, are desirable qualifications for public health and community nutrition positions.	Many experts, both in the United States and globally, emphasized the value of advanced degrees in obtaining their current roles in their organizations and preparing them for their work in public health nutrition. Several experts commented that their organizations hire for public health nutrition positions based on public health degrees and not the RDN credential. One participant commented that she had no formal training in public health nutrition; instead, she fostered her public health skills by learning from colleagues on the job. However, this experience was the exception rather than the rule among the interviewed experts.	“We would only hire an RDN . . . if they already had an MPH degree. We generally don’t hire people with an MS degree because we don’t need the science; we need the population-specific skills.” (US-based expert)
Field experience, public health internships, and diverse prior work experience prepare experts to work in public health and community nutrition.	Experts stated that their field experience and public health internships prepared them for their current positions in public health nutrition or community nutrition. Pursuing internship opportunities related to public health nutrition allowed them to foster public health skills, and these opportunities even encouraged some participants to pursue additional education related to public health.	“I obtained my master’s and then my PhD, but I did do a couple of internships. Even in my undergraduate years, I worked as a research assistant in Lebanon, and then during my master’s I did [an] internship in Senegal. I also worked for a couple of months here in Washington for a global nutrition consultancy. . . . If I didn’t have those experiences, I don’t know if I would’ve been such an attractive candidate for my current position [at an international nonprofit organization].” (Global expert)
Employers and RDNs currently working in public health and community nutrition should come together to identify ways to recruit more RDNs into these settings.	Several experts suggested that collaboration among RDNs and key players in public health and community nutrition will support more RDNs moving into these settings. For example, one expert suggested that federal agencies in the United States need to convene around this issue. Another suggested that RDNs in public health nutrition could advocate for other RDNs entering the field.	“I wonder if there’s some strength in bringing together [RDNs] that are already in public health . . . to dialogue about what they can do in their jobs and helping. Maybe there’s some tools they need, some education, some mentoring, to feel like they can do more promotion of that in their workplaces.” (US-based expert)
Non-RDNs, specifically, public health professionals, are filling nutrition-related positions in public health and community nutrition, and RDNs need to actively seek out emerging and high-profile opportunities in these fields.	RDNs need to seek out positions in public health nutrition and community nutrition, and especially in emerging and high-profile areas, more assertively.	“I see a lot of people that are passionate about food, passionate about gardening, passionate about good eating and stuff like that, that are in schools or in communities, none of [whom] have a background in nutrition. They’re great communicators, they’re great promoters . . . but they’re not [RDNs]. And it’s not because those jobs are reserved, it’s just that I don’t think [RDNs] think out of the box.” (US-based expert) “Currently, we know that people—not necessarily with nutrition degrees—are making decisions about nutrition in ministries, agriculture . . . UNICEF, or public health offices.” (Global expert) “We have a lot of opportunities to impact the public’s health through different types of public health and community-based programs, especially with the trend in wellness. So, we need to be aggressive in positioning ourselves in some of these places, in doing the work, in doing it well, and in being highly visible.” (US-based expert)

MPH = Master of Public Health; RDN = registered dietitian nutritionist; UNICEF = The United Nations Children’s Fund.