Perceived continuing education needs of RDs and DTRs.

The American Dietetic Association (ADA) Council on Practice Continuing Education Committee conducted a study to ascertain the perceived continuing education needs of registered dietitians (RDs) and dietetic technicians registered (DTRs) to assist ADA and other program providers in developing relevant programming. It surveyed 5,000 RDs and DTRs to determine current and preferred continuing education activities, factors influencing the selection of activities, topics most likely to be selected, and demographic characteristics. Results show that RDs and DTRs use a variety of mechanisms and pursue a large number of topics. Continuing education needs are most often met through locally available activities. Preferred mechanisms are workshops and lectures. ADA and state/district associations are major, but not exclusive, providers of programming. Practitioners tend to choose topics related to their practice area. Topics requested at an advanced level of presentation related to traditional dietetic practice; topics requested at a basic level were new or not specific to nutrition. The data will be incorporated into the ADA continuing education programming plan and will provide direction for ADA's exploration of new methods of continuing education delivery.