Week 18: RD Exam Prep
With less than seven weeks left of rotations, we’ve been encouraged by our internship director to design and implement an RD Exam study schedule. The RD Exam is the last step in becoming a credentialed registered dietitian.
The RD Exam is a two and half hour exam with 125 – 140 questions on everything related to dietetics. Exam content is broken into four domains.
Domain I, Principles in Dietetics, tests on food science, nutrient composition, research and education.
Domain II, Nutrition Care for Individuals and Groups, focuses on the nutrition care process.
Domain III, Management of Food and Nutrition Program Services, tests on management principles, HR, financial management, and marketing/ PR.
Domain IV, Food Service Systems, tests on menu development, procurement/production/distribution, safety & sanitation, equipment, and sustainability.
To gather insight and advice on best practices for RD exam prep, I stumbled upon some great resources!
Have Your Cake And… advices that ” Yes, you need to study, but don’t over study. A lot of RD’s that had taken the exam in the past few years have said that 2-4 weeks of studying is plenty.”
Stephanie Wilson, RDN writes “As far as exam content goes, be sure to know your community/government agencies and their functions, as well as the Nutrition Care Process. Don’t worry about memorizing little things like the AI for Chromium or the lab values for AST/ALT. Focus on the big picture.”
The Joyful RD suggests “be prepared for surprise questions, and don’t be scared of them. There are some questions that you will have absolutely no clue what any part of it means. Again, sit back, approach it from a different angle, and try to deduce the answer.”
Bailey Debarmore, RDN advices you “give yourself the week before the exam to lightly review key topics. Limit yourself to 30-60 minutes per day (maximum!!!) and do not bring study materials to the testing center.”
As for me, I plan to use the Jean Inman Exam Prep material (provided at orientation) and Iowa State Practice Exams. Ideally, I would like to test within a week or two of finishing my internship!
Until next week,
S
