For today’s post, I’d like to give a shout out and a huge “Thank you!” to the registered dietitians who have helped make my graduate school and internship experience a phenomenal one, as well as to the many, many dietitians I have met in the last few years who have given me helpful advice or simply some “food for thought.”
First, I’d like to thank my mentor, and currently my preceptor for my ambulatory rotation and my public health practicum, Judy Simon, MS, RD, CD, CHES. I have learned so much about areas of nutrition and health that are of deep interest to me, such as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), fertility and eating disorders. I’ve also learned a lot about what it takes to be an effective, caring health professional, and her Nutrition Counseling for Chronic Disease class last year pushed me to start fully exploring intuitive/mindful eating and motivational interviewing. Thanks Judy!
I also want to thank the director of the Graduate Coordinated Program in Dietetics (GCPD), Anne Lund, MPH, RD. She is the master planner who coordinates all of our practice experience rotations (which I sometimes visualize as a big game of musical chairs, or possibly chess) and keeps us on track for the myriad other assignments, wellness talks and paperwork we need to complete along the way. Thanks Anne!
She may not see this, because right now she’s one of the busiest women on the planet, but I also must thank Donna Johnson, Ph.D, RD, who is currently the acting chair of our Nutritional Sciences Program (while the usual chair, Adam Drewnowski, is on sabbatical) as well as being associate director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition. She taught two of my favorite classes, Public Health Nutrition and Maternal and Infant Nutrition, and despite being so busy, she said yes when I asked her to be on my thesis committee (I admit, I did beg a little and promised to be very low maintenance). It’s also because of her that I can’t think of kinesthetic learning without thinking of interpretive dance. Thanks Donna!
I’ve met many, many registered dietitians in the last few years, locally and at state and national conferences. It’s easy to get tunnel vision when methodically working through a series of heavy graduate courses, but these RDs gave me a much needed vision of what life could be like post-graduation. They have helped shape the future I see for myself. I also want to thank the RDs who contribute nuggets of their wisdom and experience to the listservs and newsletters of the various dietetic practice groups I belong to. I pay to belong to these DPGs (above and beyond my membership fee to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics), but the information and insights I’ve gained have been worth every penny…plus some extra pennies. Thank you all!