Why Hire a Registered Dietitian

The Regulated Health Professions Act and the Dietetic Act set out the responsibilities, powers and procedures for the College of Dietitians of Ontario to regulate the profession of dietetics to ensure that dietitians meet legal and professional standards for safe, ethical and quality health care. Public protection and access to quality dietetic care are the only reasons for regulating dietitians.

Dietitians must meet high academic and professional standards to be registered with the College.
High standards for academic and training must be achieved in order to practice as a Dietitian in the province of Ontario. These enforceable standards define the professional scope of practice, academic and training requirements, ethics, professional conduct, and continuing competence to dietetic practice. The high academic standards for dietitians include an accredited 4-year undergraduate degree or equivalent degree with appropriate courses in science and human nutrition, an accredited dietetic internship or equivalent supervised practical training; and, successful completion of the Canadian Dietetic Registration Examination.
As professionals, Registered Dietitians are accountable for offering quality nutrition care.
In Ontario, Registered Dietitians work with a high degree of autonomy and are accountable to the College of Dietitians of Ontario for safe, competent and ethical practice. Each dietitian must participate in quality assurance and practice assessment programs to ensure continuing competency.
The Public has recourse for concerns and complaints about a dietitian's nutrition care.
When an employer or anyone else has a concern regarding a dietitian, they can easily contact the College of Dietitians of Ontario. The College has the legal obligation and power to investigate reports or complaints and to take action.

What Employers need to know about the College of Dietitians of Ontario Quality Assurance Program

The purpose of the Quality Assurance (QA) Program is to support Registered Dietitians to continue their competence and to promote life-long learning. The QA Program fulfills the requirements set out by the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 , which states:
"a quality assurance program shall include,

continuing education or professional development designed to,
1. promote continuing competence and continuing quality improvement among the members,
2. address changes in practice environments, and
3. incorporate standards of practice, advances in technology, changes made to entry to practice competencies and other relevant issues in the discretion of the Council;
self, peer and practice assessments; and
a mechanism for the College to monitor members' participation in, and compliance with, the quality assurance program."

The Colleges Quality Assurance Regulation stipulates the components of the QA Program, the Colleges responsibility in implementing the program, and members' responsibility in meeting the requirements of the program.

Program Goals Assists members to improve their individual competence;

Identifies members demonstrating a need for improvement in competence and provide direction and support for enhancement;
Evaluates dietitians' participation in the Quality Assurance Program;
Identifies the issues affecting the practice of dietetics and quality of service; and
Evaluates the impact of Quality Assurance Program to ensure that it remains effective.

Who Participates in the Program?

All members of the College, regardless of their employment status or area of practice and including members practising and/or residing out-of-province, are required to participate in the Quality Assurance Program.

Program Components

The College of Dietitians of Ontario supports RDs in enhancing their competence to deliver safe, ethical and competent nutrition services through the QA Program components. The QA Program has three mandatory components.

1. Self Directed Learning Tool (SDL Tool)

2. Jurisprudence Knowledge and assessment Tool (JKAT)

3. Peer and Practice Assessment (PPA)

1. Self-Directed Learning Tool
All members are expected to submit their SDL Tool each year by October 15th. The purpose of the SDL Tool is to support Registered Dietitians' reflection on the nature of their practice, their professional competence with respect to Professional Standards for Dietitians in Canada and to require them to develop plans for professional improvement.

Members use the SDL Tool to:

Identify areas of strength;
Identify areas that need improvement;
Evaluate a learning plan from the previous year to determine whether specific areas of competence have been met; and
Develop a learning plan to enhance specific areas of competence

2. Jurisprudence Knowledge and Assessment

All members are required to complete the Jurisprudence Knowledge and Assessment Tool (JKAT) once every five years and achieve at least 80%. The purpose of the JKAT is to help Registered Dietitians’ (RDs’) acquire knowledge about the laws, standards and guidelines that affect the profession of dietetics in Ontario. The JKAT features:

Online web-based learning accessible anywhere, anytime
Live links to references
Practical learning based on professional practice scenarios
Multiple-choice questions to assess knowledge application

Members are required to participate in the College’s Peer & Practice Assessment (PPA) if randomly selected from an eligible pool of members that includes members with a general registration except those who passed the entry to practice exam within the last three years. Members selected are not targeted because of deficiencies in their practice. Rather the College starts with the assumption that members of the College maintain their knowledge, skills and practice performance at a high level of competence.

3. Peer and Practice Assessment

The purpose of the PPA is to:

Provide assurance to the public and other stakeholders that Registered Dietitians (RDs) in Ontario practice safely, competently and ethically; and
Where there is a need, assist RDs in improving their individual competence in a positive and supportive environment using processes that are flexible and acceptable to members.

The PPA evaluates whether the knowledge, skills, judgment or practice performances of an RD meet established standards. Behavioural-based questions are used to assess an RD’s practice performance with respect to the Essential Competencies for Dietitians in Canada. These questions form a semi-structured interview conducted by a Registered Dietitian Peer Assessor. The interview takes between 2 – 3 hours and members are expected to share documents which could include client’s records to demonstrate competence.

Practice enhancement strategies are used when standards are not met. Both assessments and enhancement are designed to be flexible, acceptable and positive experiences for the RD.

Cooperation with the College

The Regulated Health Professions Act confers powers on the College for the purposes of the Quality Assurance Program to conduct practice assessments of dietitians to ensure continuing competence for public protection. Employers must cooperate with the College’s practice assessments of a Registered Dietitian. Refusal to cooperate is an offense. Furthermore, it is professional misconduct for a dietitian to fail to cooperate with the College during a practice assessment.