RecordMove

Respiratory therapy technician to dietetic technician

A respiratory therapy technician already meets 30% of what the dietetic technician role asks for. The move turns on 20 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional

From respiratory therapy technician

Distant match

To dietetic technician

11 You already bring

20 Still to learn

38 Skills in the target role2

Learning distance Substantial retraining

74.5/ 100

adjacentmoderatesubstantialcareer change

1 How much of what a dietetic technician is expected to do is already part of a respiratory therapy technician’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the dietetic technician role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A dietetic technician role treats 9 of its required skills as things a respiratory therapy technician already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

communicate in healthcare
comply with legislation related to health care
comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice
health care legislation
human anatomy
hygiene in a health care setting

What stands in the way is 20 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 11 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A dietetic technician role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a respiratory therapy technician background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area

already held medical informatics health and welfare
already held hygiene in a health care setting services
already held medical terminology health and welfare
already held health care legislation business, administration and law
already held use e-health and mobile health technologies working with computers
already held manage healthcare users' data information skills

All 11 carried skills, including the 9 the dietetic technician role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 27 missing skills fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier

01 health and welfare 6 required, 2 supplementary

still to learn calculation of food energy required
still to learn dietetics required
still to learn nutrition of healthy persons required
still to learn professional documentation in health care required
still to learn composition of diets required
still to learn counselling methods required

optional, not held obesity optional
optional, not held geriatrics optional

02 assisting and caring 6 required, 1 supplementary

still to learn prepare infant formulae required
still to learn use food preparation techniques required
still to learn adhere to organisational guidelines required
still to learn empathise with the healthcare user required
still to learn follow clinical guidelines required
still to learn identify nutritional properties of food required

optional, not held deal with emergency care situations optional

03 communication, collaboration and creativity 4 required, 1 supplementary

still to learn plan patient menus required
still to learn educate healthcare users on nutrition required
still to learn interact with healthcare users required
still to learn work in a multicultural environment in health care required

optional, not held use foreign languages in patient care optional

04 services 2 required

still to learn food hygiene rules required
still to learn food safety standards required

05 engineering, manufacturing and construction 1 required, 1 supplementary

still to learn food preservation required

optional, not held european food safety policy optional

06 information skills 1 required

still to learn monitor stock level required

2 further areas in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a dietetic technician role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 11 skills that carry over

Skill Type

already held communicate in healthcare skill
already held comply with legislation related to health care skill
already held comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice skill
already held health care legislation knowledge
already held human anatomy knowledge
already held hygiene in a health care setting knowledge
already held medical informatics knowledge
already held use e-health and mobile health technologies skill
already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
already held manage healthcare users' data skill
already held medical terminology knowledge

The 2 learning areas not shown above

Skill to pick up Tier

07 education 1 supplementary

optional, not held pedagogy optional

08 handling and moving 1 supplementary

optional, not held store raw food materials optional

7 supplementary skills, helpful but not required

Skill to pick up Tier

optional, not held european food safety policy optional
optional, not held obesity optional
optional, not held deal with emergency care situations optional
optional, not held geriatrics optional
optional, not held pedagogy optional
optional, not held store raw food materials optional
optional, not held use foreign languages in patient care optional

20 held skills the dietetic technician role does not ask for

Skill Type

not needed by the target role apply context specific clinical competences skill
not needed by the target role carry out invasive cardiovascular procedures skill
not needed by the target role clinical imaging techniques knowledge
not needed by the target role clinical perfusion knowledge
not needed by the target role conduct polysomnography skill
not needed by the target role contribute to continuity of health care skill
not needed by the target role develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship skill
not needed by the target role emergency surgery knowledge
not needed by the target role ensure safety of healthcare users skill
not needed by the target role first aid knowledge
not needed by the target role interpret medical images skill
not needed by the target role operate breathing equipment skill
not needed by the target role operate heart-lung machines skill
not needed by the target role promote health and safety skill
not needed by the target role provide pre-treatment information skill
not needed by the target role rehabilitation of all organ systems knowledge
not needed by the target role respiratory medicine knowledge
not needed by the target role respiratory therapy knowledge
not needed by the target role respond to changing situations in health care skill
not needed by the target role surgery knowledge

13 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier

still to learn calculation of food energy required
still to learn dietetics required
still to learn food hygiene rules required
still to learn food preservation required
still to learn food safety standards required
still to learn nutrition of healthy persons required
still to learn professional documentation in health care required
still to learn composition of diets required
still to learn counselling methods required
optional, not held european food safety policy optional
optional, not held obesity optional
optional, not held geriatrics optional
optional, not held pedagogy optional

Index

Other moves recorded from respiratory therapy technician

Full index of moves from respiratory therapy technician

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a respiratory therapy technician become a dietetic technician?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. A respiratory therapy technician already covers 30% of what a dietetic technician is expected to do: 11 skills carry over, 9 of which the dietetic technician role treats as required.

What skills does a respiratory therapy technician need to become a dietetic technician?

20 required skills are missing, plus 7 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by health and welfare. The single most important is plan patient menus.

How hard is the move from respiratory therapy technician to dietetic technician?

Its learning distance is 74.5 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.