MOEX presented an update to its implementation of the dietitian examination at the 105th meeting of the Examination Yuan’s 13th term held today. All attending Ministers without Portfolio discussed topics including dietitian training, licensing, exam questions, and exam format. Examination Yuan President Huang Jong-tsun noted that modifying exam qualifications and subjects requires schools, exam administration agencies, and training agencies to collaborate. MOEX will seek opinions from professional supervisory bodies, educational government agencies, professional groups, and schools to make the selection process more effective.

At a MOEX seminar on February 22, 2022, China Medical University suggested increasing the weight of multiple-choice questions. In response, MOEX sought advice from the Nutrition Society of Taiwan and Taiwan Dietitian Association. Most experts agreed that four subjects - physiology and biochemistry, nutrition, public health nutrition, and food hygiene and safety be tested entirely with multiple-choice questions, while a 50-50 split between essay and multiple-choice questions should remain for diet therapy and group diet design and management. A score of 50 in therapeutic nutrition will continue to determine a pass or fail.

According to Article 11, Paragraph 3 of the Professional and Technical Personnel Examinations Act, opinions of relevant professional bodies must be acquired before the formulation or amendment of any examination regulations. MOEX shall then decide how to formulate or amend regulations with central authorities and central authorities in the target industry. MOEX said it will follow procedures and amend exam regulations to improve the dietitians’ exam.

The Dietitians Act came into force on February 2, 1987. Between the first dietitians’ exam in 1988 and the first dietitians’ exam of 2022, a total of 10,116 individuals have passed the exam. According to MOEX statistics, from 2019 to 2021, 5,522 applicants applied for the second dietitians’ exam, which normally takes place between July and August. The exam attracts fewer recent graduates, with 2,437 new graduates making up 44.13% of all applicants. The pass rates for new graduates for this period were 32.88%, 25.86%, and 28.40%, while 12.56%, 7.08%, 8.33% of non-recent graduates passed. These numbers show that new graduates have higher pass rates. Higher, stable pass rates are the results of professional training in school and breathing new life into the profession.