Question
Feel free to use hypothetical data for the interview part.
Answer
Interview with Dietician
Dietetics is the field of science involving diet regulation and human nutrition. An expert in dietetics is referred to as a dietician. In general, dieticians assess the patients with nutritional problems, diagnose them and then treat them according to the severity of the nutritional problems (Marcason 484). Dieticians that meet all the professional and educational requirements are referred to as registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) or registered dietitians (RDs). RDs work in very diverse environments including hospitals, academia, private practices, health-maintenance organizations, food industry, sports nutrition and research. In this paper, I will interview Joan Smith regarding her educational background, her work as a dietician and what it entails.
Joan Smith is a dietician with a professional training in culinary and business fields. She holds a BSc in Nutrition and Dietetics, MBA in Business and a Cordon-bleu Certificate. Mrs. Smith pointed out that her professional diversity in the field stems from the fact that her family moves every two years seeing as her husband, Mr. Smith, is in the military. Due to her extensive educational background, she has worked as a Foodservice Director, a clinical dietitian and a food stylist. She currently works as an Internet Communications Manager at a well-known research center that focuses on children nutrition.
As an internet communications manager, Smith works both as the webmaster of their website and as a writer in the field of pediatric nutrition. Her main responsibility is to relay each message as obtained from research findings in such a way that any individual, young or old, can understand. Her writing is very diverse as well, and she takes advantage of her culinary background to write about cooking tips, separating nutrition fact from fiction and sharing tips on making healthy meals.
According to Joan, one needs to have people skills and self-confidence skillsto be a successful dietician in the research field. The individual needs to believe in what he/she is writing so that other people reading the same information can believe in it too. Moreover, it is important to know how to approach people in need of your help as a nutritionist without making it seem that they are unfit for human existence (Hewat 405). This is why people skills are important. In addition, being flexible and creative are very key skills that any dietician should possess (Willaing et al. 517). Dietetics is a wide field, and so should the imagination of a dietician.
Her job, however, has its challenges as well. Before taking on the technical aspects of the website of the research center, all Joan did was write for and manage the website. The technical aspect was such a huge challenge and required a lot of learning and extra hours to be able to understand how to make it better. Another challenge that Joan faces on a regular basis is that of choosing what to write about and what not to. According to her, being able to say no to a request is one of the hardest things that one can do as a dietician in the research sector (Rasmussen et al 2006).
Before concluding the interview, Joan Smith made a very compelling point. She mentioned that being part of a professional organization for nutrition and dietetics opens up doors to a wide range of opportunities. These organizations are important for networking, being up to speed with the current knowledge or innovation in nutrition and advancing in the nutrition career (Willaing et al. 517).As the interview drew to a close, Smith emphasized that the American Dietetic Association (ADA), the Houston Area Dietetics Association (HADA) and the Food and Culinary Professional Group have all played an instrumental role in her long career as a dietician.
Works Cited
Hewat, Claire. “Can a dietician help?” Australian family physician. 38.6 (2009): 405.
Marcason, Wendy. “Dietitian, dietician, or nutritionist?” Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 115.3 (2015): 484.
Rasmussen, Henrik Højgaard, et al. “A method for implementation of nutritional therapy in hospitals.” Clinical nutrition 25.3 (2006): 515-523.
Willaing, Ingrid, Ladelund, S., Jørgensen, T., Simonsen, T. and Nielsen, L. “Nutritional counseling in primary health care: A randomized comparison of an intervention by general practitioner or dietician.” European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention & Rehabilitation 11.6 (2004): 513-520.
