Hawaii Statutes

Medical nutrition therapy is a medical treatment. Like other non-physician practitioners providing medical treatments, registered dietitian nutritionists generally can practice MNT because of licensure and certification laws, which provide authority for RDNs to provide this medical service. It is with this understanding that the Academy strongly recommends — unless there is an applicable exception or exemption or a state does not provide for licensure or certification requirements — practitioners hold licensure or certification in all states where the practitioner's clients or patients are located when services are provided.

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Statute and Regulation Details

Background info and terminology

Licensure (or Certification) by Endorsement of RDN Credential/Exemptions

[§448B-5] Licensure requirements. In addition to the application requirements provided by section 436B-10, the director shall adopt rules as deemed necessary for the licensure of dietitians to protect public health and safety, and may consider the following as minimum evidence that an applicant is qualified to be licensed:

(1) The applicant received a baccalaureate degree or post-baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university with a major course of study in dietetics, human nutrition, food and nutrition, or food systems management, or academic requirements related thereto, approved by the commission on accreditation, or meets equivalent core requirements for the dietetics option at the University of Hawaii. In addition to basic dietetic principles of nutrition, human physiology, biochemistry, and behavioral and social sciences, course work shall include at least nine semester credits (or twelve quarter hours) relating to food science and food preparation. Applicants who have obtained their education outside of the United States and its territories shall have their academic degree validated by an agency authorized to validate foreign academic degrees as being equivalent to a baccalaureate, master's, or doctoral degree conferred by a regionally accredited college or university in the United States. Validation of a foreign degree shall include a verification statement of completion of the major course of study or related academic requirements, basic dietetic principles, and course work specified in this paragraph;

(2) Satisfactorily complete a documented supervised practice experience component in dietetic practice of not less than nine hundred hours approved by the commission on accreditation;

(3) Pass the registration examination for dietitians administered by the Commission on Dietetic Registration; and

(4) Submit a report of any disciplinary action relating to dietetics practice taken against the applicant in another jurisdiction.

An individual who provides evidence of current registration in the association [the American Dietetic Association] shall be deemed to have met the educational and supervised practice experience requirements of this section.

Licensure (or Certification) by Reciprocity or Endorsement of Another License

[§448B-6] Licensure by endorsement. The director shall grant, upon application and payment of proper fees, licensure to a person who, at the time of application, holds a valid certification or license as a dietitian issued by another state, territory, or jurisdiction if the requirements for that certification or license are equal to, or greater than, the requirements of this chapter.

Temporary/Provisional Licensure (or Certification)

N/A

Exceptions/Exemptions

N/A

Updated August 2023

Disclaimer: This page is not intended to constitute legal or career advice. All information, content and materials are for general informational purposes only and may not represent the most up-to-date legal or other information. This website contains links to other third-party websites, which are only for the convenience of the reader, user or browser. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and its members do not recommend or endorse the contents of the third-party sites, nor does such information necessarily constitute a legally binding interpretation of state policy. The ultimate authority to interpret each state's requirements is the licensing board or agency of that state.