Enhanced Practice

Enhanced practice is a level of practice, beyond the entry level, which already exists within our workforce. It is a distinct level of practice within a dietetic career that encompasses the largest proportion of dietitians, delivering the majority of services and where most dietitians will spend their entire career.

The BDA is committed to supporting members who choose to stay working at this level of practice as a career destination.

What is enhanced level practice?

Enhanced level practice is positioned between entry and advanced level practice. It is the level of practice where most of the workforce needs to be to deliver profession specific expertise. Many registered dietitians transition to enhanced level as they build their professional capabilities. It is a broad and highly valued level of practice and is vital for delivering safe and effective services across all settings.

Within enhanced practice, there is the opportunity for significant professional development, moving towards becoming an expert within a speciality and developing depth of expertise as a dietitian. It can be a precursor to advanced level, but only a small percentage of the workforce will transition into advanced and consultant level practice.

Roles and titles

Enhanced practice is not a job title or role. Dietitians working at this level of practice will have many different roles and titles. Examples include:

• Specialist Dietitian
• Team Leader
• Dietetic Programme Lead (in a university)
• First Contact Dietitian
• Clinical Lead
• Senior Dietitian
• Advanced Dietitian
• Highly Specialist Dietitian
• Research Associate

They usually work in their role as part of a multi-professional team and apply their profession specific skills, knowledge, and experience to substantially contribute to care or service delivery. Examples of enhanced level roles can be seen in our case studies below.

Education and experience

Enhanced level practice is developed through post registration education, experience and dietetic training encompassing the four pillars of practice, meaning dietitians acquire in-depth knowledge and understanding within an area of dietetics. An emphasis on development across the four pillars improves service-user experience and supports better career progression. Dietitians develop the capability to undertake increasingly more complex work and decision making, supporting the proactive management of risk.

To develop professional capability, a commitment to lifelong learning is essential.

Accessing education and training

The commitment to lifelong learning is recognised in the BDA Strategic Plan with a firm commitment that to futureproof the dietetic profession, there needs to be a continued focus on growing education and training opportunities in each of the four nations. However, we recognise that our workforce is experiencing challenges in accessing training opportunities which can result in recruitment and retention issues. Therefore, we encourage our members to:

• Access the available BDA courses and training opportunities here.
• Utilise practice supervision and appraisal sessions to develop a personal development plan that addresses any identified learning needs and career aspirations. These conversations make it easier for your team leader or manager to support your requests to access training. See the BDA practice supervision guideline for more information on this.
• Champion preceptorship within your service. This helps to ensure that all members of your team, whether moving into their first role or making a role transition, feel confident to identify their CPD needs.
• Ask at interview for any new role about the education and training opportunities on offer. 
• Consider learning opportunities within your service or wider multi-professional team. Shadowing colleagues working in a different role or profession to you is an excellent way to develop your knowledge and skills.
• Consider volunteering with the BDA, for example as a committee member for a specialist group or regional branch. Not only will this expose you to colleagues working outside of your local area for knowledge exchange, but can also support your development across the four pillars.
• Access the BDA website and sign up for free webinars across the year. Being a member of the BDA also gives you a discount to attend our courses and events.

Training and education opportunities across the four nations

Case studies: Dietitians working at enhanced level of practice

Jess - Lecturer

Joe - First Contact Practitioner

Laura - Specialist Dietitian and Non-medical Prescriber

Sam - Specialist Dietitian

Luke - Freelance Dietitian

Beth - Mental Health Dietitian

Video case studies for other dietitians working at the enhanced level of practice can be seen here.