Dashboard Overview

This interactive dashboard projects full-time equivalent (FTE) supply and demand for Registered Dietitians (RDs) and Dietetic Technicians, Registered (DTRs) from 2025 through 2035 across nine practice areas. One FTE represents a practitioner working 30–50 hours per week within the profession; practitioners working fewer or more hours contribute proportionally fewer or greater FTEs.

The dashboard allows users to modify model assumptions, explore alternative scenarios, and examine how these changes affect projected workforce supply, demand, and workforce gaps. Projections are intended to support workforce planning and should be interpreted as estimates under specified assumptions rather than precise forecasts.

Practice Areas:

• Clinical - Inpatient
• Clinical - Hospital Outpatient
• Clinical - Office-based
• Clinical - Long-Term Care
• Clinical - Telehealth
• Community Nutrition
• Education & Research
• Business and Consultation
• Food & Nutrition Management

Adjusting Parameters

The left sidebar contains controls for modifying projection assumptions. The sidebar is organized into three tabs: Supply , Demand , and Scenarios . Default parameter values represent the baseline projection.

Supply Tab

Practice Area Distribution Growth Adjustments: Adjust how the distribution of practitioners across practice areas changes over time. Adjustments ranging from -5% to +5% are added to the default growth rate for each practice area’s share of the workforce. A value of 0.0% uses the default data-driven growth rate, based on historical changes in practice area distributions from 2011 to 2024. The dashboard also display the effective growth rate of the supply for that practice area, which reflects the combined effects of projected registry growth and changes in the practice area’s share of the workforce over time.

Demand Tab

Baseline Demand Relative to Supply: Adjusts the assumed relationship between workforce demand and supply in 2025 (range: -10% to +30%). The default value of 10% assumes that baseline demand is 10% greater than baseline supply. A value of 0 assumes that supply and demand are equal in the baseline year.

Growth Rate Adjustments by Practice Area: Adjusts the demand growth rates within each practice area. Adjustments additively increase or decrease the demand growth rate within each practice area, from -5% to +5% relative to the default (data-driven) value. A value of 0.0% uses the values informed by observed demand drivers.

Scenarios Tab

Select one or more predefined "What If?" scenarios to explore how alternative future conditions could affect workforce projections. Scenarios are applied on top of the baseline model assumptions.

• AI and Technological Change: Explores how technological change could alter demand across practice areas, including reduced demand growth in selected outpatient, business, community, education, and food and nutrition management settings and increased demand growth in Clinical – Telehealth. The slider controls the magnitude of the shift in demand.
• Workforce and Job Alignment: Explores the effects of practitioner preferences for lower-intensity work environments by shifting workforce supply from higher-intensity practice areas toward Clinical – Telehealth, Community Nutrition, Business and Consultation, and Education and Research. The slider controls the magnitude of the shift from high-intensity to low-intensity positions.
• Federal Policy Changes: Explores how reductions in selected federal nutrition programs and research funding could affect demand in Community Nutrition and Education and Research. The slider controls the magnitude of the funding decline. Users may also specify whether funding subsequently experiences no rebound, an immediate rebound in 2029, or a gradual rebound from 2029-2032.

Reset Button

Projections update automatically as parameters or scenarios are changed. Select Reset All to Default to restore all parameters to their default values and turn off all “What If?” scenarios.

Overview Tab Features

Overall Supply and Demand Projections

The main visualization displays aggregate workforce supply and demand projections. Use the controls next to the plot to customize the results shown.

• Credential to Display: Select which credential(s) to include:
• RD Only: Displays supply and demand for RDs
• DTR Only: Displays supply and demand for DTRs
• Combine RDs + DTRs: Displays combined supply and demand for both credentials
• Practice Area Filters: Select the practice areas to include in the aggregate projections. Uncheck a practice area to exclude it from the displayed totals.

Understanding the Plot

• Blue line: Projected supply
• Red line: Projected demand
• Hover: Hover over a data point to view the projected FTE value for that year.

When projected demand exceeds projected supply, the model indicates a workforce shortage; when projected supply exceeds projected demand, it indicates a workforce surplus.

Download Projections

Select Download Projections (CSV) to export the current projections. The downloaded file includes Year, Credential, Practice Area, Supply FTE, and Demand FTE and reflects the parameter settings and scenario selections currently applied in the dashboard.

By Practice Area Tab Features

Use the By Practice Area tab to examine supply and demand projections for an individual practice area.

Display Controls

• Select Practice Area: Choose the practice area to examine.
• Credential: Select which credential(s) to view:
• RD Only: Displays supply and demand for RDs
• DTR Only: Displays supply and demand for DTRs
• Combine RD + DTR: Displays combined supply and demand for both credentials.

Understanding the Plot

• Blue line: Projected supply
• Red line: Projected demand
• Hover: Hover over a data point to view the projected FTE value for that year.

The plot updates automatically as display selections, model parameters, or scenarios are changed.

Tips for Using the Dashboard

Exploring Assumptions and Scenarios

1. Begin with the default settings to review the baseline projection.
2. Adjust one parameter at a time to understand its effect on the projections.
3. Use the "What If?" scenarios to explore the effects of broader alternative future conditions.
4. Compare results across credentials and practice areas to identify where projected workforce trends differ.
5. Download projections under different settings if you would like to compare results outside the dashboard.

Interpreting Results

• Workforce gaps: Demand above supply indicates a projected workforce shortage; supply above demand indicates a projected surplus.
• Trends over time: Changes in the supply and demand lines indicate how the projected workforce evolves from 2025 through 2035.
• Practice area variation: Aggregate projections can mask important differences across practice areas. Use the By Practice Area tab to examine these differences.
• Scenario effects: "What If?" scenarios represent plausible alternative conditions for planning purposes and should not be interpreted as predictions of future events.