Registered Dietitians’ Competencies and Educational Needs in Interprofessional Team-Based Primary Care in Canada

Purpose: Registered dietitians (RDs) contribute significantly to Canadian interprofessional team-based primary care (TBPC). RDs acquire, maintain, and develop practice competencies to ensure the provision of high-quality care. However, the interprofessional and dietetics-specific competencies critical to RDs in TBPC settings and their needs for further education pre- and post-licensure are not well defined. The project aim was to investigate the perceptions of Canadian RDs working in TBPC regarding their practice competencies and education needs. Methods: A 53-question online survey was developed and distributed to Canadian RDs working in TBPC settings. They were invited to participate in the survey via group email lists and various social media platforms. Results: Seventy-three RDs working in TBPC completed the survey (September 2023–February 2024). Participants indicated that the most challenging interprofessional competencies were “role clarification and negotiation” (45.2%, n = 33) and “team disagreement processing” (39.7%, n = 29). Three-fourths of participants (n = 55) wanted post-licensure learning opportunities to achieve competency levels that support their primary patient demographic. When asked which dietetic competency they desired further education, half (n = 43) indicated “practice in a manner that promotes cultural safety.” Conclusions: These results regarding the TBPC competencies and learning needs of Canadian RDs will help inform dietetic education pre- and post-licensure.