Dietary Managers Certificate Program

Introduction

Dietary managers act as supervisors or managers over many long term care facilities, assisted living, small hospitals, schools, military, and other non commercial settings, and are an important part of the nutrition care team. These individuals hire dietary workers, purchase food, supervise preparation, distribution and clean up of meals, snacks, and supplements. Food safety and selecting foods that conform to diet prescriptions are essential functions of the dietary managers and responsibilities are critical to quality patient care. While in hospitals there is a registered dietitian (RD) available for consultation, in long term care the RD is usually a consultant, thereby increasing the responsibility of the Certified Dietary Manager (CDM). CDM's are nationally recognized experts by the US Department of Labor. Starting salaries in the New Jersey areal are in the $30,000 to $45,000 per year range.

UMDNJ's Dietary Manager program is a ten month certificate program which has been accredited by the Dietary Managers Association (DMA). Graduates of our program are welcome to take the national certification, earning them the CDM credential upon passing. Information about this exam can be found at www.dmaonline.org