The University of Wyoming
began a Cent$ible Nutrition Program (CNP) recently that serves lower-income families statewide, teaching them nutrition, physical activity, and hands-on cooking. It is run by registered dietitians who work with CNP, serving those who have limited resources, by providing nutrition education and helping them to make healthier choices more easily. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Nutrition Education Program. CNP is available in all counties throughout Wyoming and the Wind River Indian Reservation, providing online and in-person, free classes for those who qualify on the basis of income.
Registered dietitians play an important role, not just in the CNP but across the state of Wyoming. They instruct, advise and counsel residents of all ages in choosing the healthiest options for their dietary needs. Becoming a registered dietitian in Wyoming involves fulfilling certain qualifications. To learn more about these requirements, please keep reading.
Wyoming Registered Dietitian Education and Experience
Wyoming’s Dietetics Licensure Act states that anyone who wants to work as a dietitian in the state must meet these qualifications:
- Possess at least a bachelor’s degree in nutrition education, human nutrition, food and nutrition, public health nutrition, dietetics, food systems management, or equivalent
- Have completed a supervised dietetic preprofessional experience of at least 900 hours, supervised by a licensed and/or registered dietitian or a person with a doctorate
- Pass the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR)’s Registration Examination for Dietitians
The CDR, the national agency that registers dietitians, is raising their requirement from a bachelor’s degree to a master’s degree as of Jan. 1, 2024. What won’t change is the fact that the degree must be from a college or university dietetics program that is accredited through the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND). You may attend an ACEND-accredited program in any state or Canadian province, which is helpful because as of November 2022, Wyoming just offers one such program: the Didactic Program in Dietetics at University of Wyoming, Laramie. This program is currently a bachelor’s degree program, but will likely transition into a master’s degree program to meet the CDR’s updated requirements in the near future.
The CDR also requires that you complete 1000 hours of supervised preprofessional dietetic experience (which is greater than Wyoming’s statute mandates). A list of approved dietetic internships may be found here (link to Dietetic Internships). Again, this may be from any state or Canadian province, as long as it is ACEND-accredited.
Wyoming Registered Dietitian Examination
After fulfilling CDR’s mandates for education and experience, you must pass their Registration Examination for Dietitians. The Registration Examination for Dietitians Handbook for Candidates will give you much valuable information on registering for and taking the test. You must pay a $200 testing fee and take the test at a Pearson VUE testing center. In Wyoming, the only center is in Casper, but you may opt to take the test in any nearby center that is convenient, such a Billings, MT; Westminster, CO; Greenwood Village, CO; or Ogden, UT. You will be notified of your passing status when you finish taking the exam. Those who pass can expect to receive their CDR registration card through the U.S. postal mail a few weeks after the exam.
Wyoming Registered Dietitian Licensure
Before you can legally work as a dietitian in Wyoming, you must become licensed there. This involves filing this Application for Licensure and mailing it, with a $200 money order or check (no cash will be accepted) payable to the State of Wyoming, to Wyoming Dietetics Licensing Board, 2001 Capitol Ave, Room 127, Cheyenne, WY 82002. You must include proof of your lawful presence in the U.S. along with your application. Request that the CDR sends the Board official verification of your RD credential.
After receiving your application, an Application Review Committee will review it. You should find out, through postal mail, if it is approved within one to three weeks.
Wyoming Registered Dietitian Salary
Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the United States Department of Labor, Wyoming’s dietitians make an hourly median wage of $29.43 and an annual median wage of $61,220 as of May 2021. Those working in the western nonmetropolitan part of the state fare better, making $36.90 hourly and $76,920 annually. Dietitians working in the eastern nonmetropolitan part of the state make an hourly median wage of $21.86 and an annual median wage of $45,460.
Wyoming Registered Dietitian Employment
If you have your registered dietitian credential and are licensed in Wyoming, you should easily be able to find a job. As of November 2022, the following jobs were posted for licensed, registered dietitians in Wyoming:
- Registered Dietitian – RD Nutrition Consultants, LLC, Cheyenne
- Salary: $30-$36/hour
- Must have RD credential
- Must be licensed to work in Wyoming
- Dietitian, Informatics – U.S. Veterans Health Administration, Cheyenne
- Salary: $44,740-$86,074/year
- Must have RD credential
- Must be licensed to work in Wyoming
- WIC Clinic Supervisor- Converse/Platte Counties, State of Wyoming, Douglas
- Salary: $23.01-$28.76/hour
- Must have a bachelor’s degree
- Must have up to two years of experience
- Prefer those with a RD credential and licensed to work in Wyoming
- Prefer those with one year of supervisory experience
- Travel Dietitian – Novo Connections, United States
- Salary: $1700-$2000/week
- Must have RD credential
- Must be state licensed
- Must be willing to travel for work to Texas, Illinois, New Mexico, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania
- Prefer candidates with one year of acute care experience