Registered Dietician (RD) vs Pharmacy

[Joe123]

Can some comment on the income, work-life balance of Registered dietician vs. Pharmacists in Ontario? I'm asking on behalf of a friend, who was recently accepted into pharmacy but is thinking of becoming an RD instead because she feels it is a less stressful job. How much do RD make ? Is it substantially less than pharmacists?

 

[JohnGrisham]

Depends what environment you're working in. Generally yes, a RD will be less stressful than pharmacist, and less education too.  Generally pharmacist will be more stress, but with that comes more pay in most settings (outpatient and inpatient). You'll need to get a hospital internship as an RD to get into that system for more of the job security. As an outpatient RD, things are a bit less stable and varies by province. You may need to be more of an entrepreneur perhaps. Pharmacy is a bit more clear cut path, outpatient = in a pharmacy clinic(these days getting very very busy with efficiency measures), in patient = hospital pharmacist etc.  Very simplified breakdown of course. 

RD will generally be more 9-5 type hours, gain very oversimplified. Pharmacist will depend on the setting, but outpatient pharmacy clinic work can become hectic and you're constantly busy in most centres(think rexall, shoppers drug mart etc), whereas an inpatient RD will be busy in a different way, but generally not constantly rushed and on the go. 

[Joe123]

1 hour ago, JohnGrisham said:

Depends what environment you're working in. Generally yes, a RD will be less stressful than pharmacist, and less education too.  Generally pharmacist will be more stress, but with that comes more pay in most settings (outpatient and inpatient). You'll need to get a hospital internship as an RD to get into that system for more of the job security. As an outpatient RD, things are a bit less stable and varies by province. You may need to be more of an entrepreneur perhaps. Pharmacy is a bit more clear cut path, outpatient = in a pharmacy clinic(these days getting very very busy with efficiency measures), in patient = hospital pharmacist etc.  Very simplified breakdown of course. 

RD will generally be more 9-5 type hours, gain very oversimplified. Pharmacist will depend on the setting, but outpatient pharmacy clinic work can become hectic and you're constantly busy in most centres(think rexall, shoppers drug mart etc), whereas an inpatient RD will be busy in a different way, but generally not constantly rushed and on the go. 

 

How much on avg does an RD make vs. a pharmacist per year?

[Egg_McMuffin]

Re:RD salary. It depends on where you work. Within Ontario, generally I've seen clinical gigs start at $33-35/hr, public health jobs start at $30-38/hr (for jobs that don't require a masters). Community jobs are probably the easiest to get, but also pay less ($30 ish to start at some places). Other provinces can pay less or more.

If staying within a certain geographical area might be a concern (as it is for many) pharmacy will be a better bet. The RD job market is tougher to break into, from what I gather.

Your friend can do a quick Indeed search to get a sense of the demand and pay for each profession.