Human Resources committee  There was a time when dietetic interns made a modest stipend, but now they are not paid and they are still carrying their loans from university.

Human Resources committee  Sometimes—it varies according to province.

Human Resources committee  There's also the matter of a differential in wages for those who are employed in hospitals versus those who are employed in community settings, like community health centres and family health teams. There is the rural versus the urban pay differentials, as well as benefits, such as having access to a pension plan.

Human Resources committee  I think it's much the same response. The data is fragmented. We took on the survey simply because there wasn't data. Point in time data is as good as it gets, and it's certainly flawed. The data exists. The data is being collected differently at the provincial level. There are different definitions.

Human Resources committee  We also have some shortages in public health. This profession we belong to, the dietitians, is one of the few health professions directly employed in public health units. Typically, public health units would be nurses and dietitians. That is another area where the distribution has become quite skewed, and it's problematic for our workforce.

Human Resources committee  I understand how you might have misconstrued that piece of it. It's not about not wanting to be a preceptor. In fact, the majority of our dieticians in the workforce survey said that, yes, they had been preceptors at some point. All of us really do enjoy having students, but we know that the system within which we work—this publicly funded health system—judges our profession and funds our work by productivity output statistics.

Human Resources committee  We did refer to it.

Human Resources committee  I'll let Marlene answer.

Human Resources committee  Yes, I did. I entirely agree with what our other two respondents have said. They have essentially highlighted that we need to pull together the information that is out there but that we haven't ever really looked at really. What are the true needs to serve the health of Canadians?

Human Resources committee  Good afternoon. I'm Pat Vanderkooy, representing Dietitians of Canada, with public affairs. My colleague is Marlene Wyatt, with professional affairs in our association. You have before you an outline, and we will shortly be following up with a brief that we will submit. Dietitians of Canada is our only national professional association of dietitians in Canada.