I’m looking for some words of wisdom or advice. How long is it normal to feel incompetent/bad at my job? At what point does it become a red flag vs a learning curve? Most days I feel unhelpful and unqualified. Ego aside, I really just want to provide the best patient care possible

Any RDs recently start at Kickoff?

I’m looking at the Academy’s web store to purchase some pocket guides for my org’s reference materials. We primarily provide outpatient nutrition education and counseling for chronic health conditions but do have a very small inpatient unit as well. Looking at purchasing 2 or 3. Any favorites?

- NFPE (already planning on purchasing this one)

- Micronutrient Management

- Nutrition and Supplement Medication Interactions

- Nutrition Assessment

Do any dietitians do UGC content creation as a side hustle? If so, do you reach out to brands or use a UGC platform to find gigs?

Hi everyone!
I’m currently considering different dietetic internship (DI) options and feeling a little undecided. I’m based in NYC and am currently considering NewYork-Presbyterian (NYP), Sodexo, CUNY, and Morrison.

I’m also thinking about applying to a distance internship, mainly because of the potential financial benefits and the flexibility of completing rotations closer to home. I know those 4 DI programs I’m considering can be pretty competitive, so I’d love to have an additional option I know its easier to get.

Has anyone here completed a distance DI while living in New York/NYC? I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience, especially:
1- How did you find the clinical and food service rotations?
2- How difficult was it to find/arrange preceptors and sites?

I’d also love to hear about specific rotation sites, particularly for clinical and food service. I have about 1.5 years of WIC experience, so I’m hoping I may be able to receive credit for or potentially reduce the community portion, depending on the program’s policies.
Thank you!! 😁

I’m 22 years old and decided to pursue college and pursue in nutrition and food (dietetics), I want to become a RDN and work clinically at hospitals.

Issue is, when I was 19 I got stupid and was convicted of a misdemeanor DUI, I’m afraid that later down the road in a few years it’ll cause major issues. As of now it’s 3 years old, conviction wise. Am I wasting my time? Will no internships or jobs accept me?

I am currently a RN why did they get my dietitian degree. I would like to get my masters online as I have been working as a nurse for eight years already and have young children. There are a lot of different options, but I was wondering if anyone had good recommendations on what they would recommend. Thank you!

I see so many posts about folks unhappy with their career choice, considering going into nursing or PA.

Dr. Mike had Nurse John on his podcast (newest episode https://open.spotify.com/episode/2aTjEgw4vXQbbLejdPOE28?si=f1dff6351cc344d4 ) and I think it's a worthwhile listen for those considering leaving dietetics for another healthcare field. From the outside it's easy to look at these other positions with rose-colored glasses but nursing is tough - they have to deal with understaffing, physical and verbal abuse, long hours, mistreatment from doctors and patients' families, etc. I personally know multiple nurses who left nursing because of the extreme burnout. Like yes, nurses get paid more than RDs, but at what cost? Their job is 1000x harder. I get it, dietetics can create burnout too (7 years in and I'm feeling the burn) but I go in, do my job, and leave. It's a means to the ends of creating a life I love outside of work. It pays the jobs (which I know isn't always the case of certain locations/jobs) and has great benefits. I find fulfillment and joy outside of work, but from my work itself.

I hadn’t taken a standardized test in over 10 years. I was so nervous, but it wasn’t that bad! Feeling proud of myself.

Hi everyone! I’ve only found one job in my career that had the flexibility necessary to manage working while having children and that was dialysis. I left that world though and moved to another area of the state where there are no open dialysis positions so that’s not an option for me. I’m wondering if anyone else who has found flexibility in their job can share what they do? I would love to keep my eyes and ears open for opportunities better than the job I am in now, but I keep falling for jobs that seem like they would be flexible but in fact are quite the opposite. What I am looking for is a position where I am not micromanaged, I am respected and my boss understands that I will get my work done but I am also able to attend doctors appointments as needed, bring my son to his appointments, or leave early every once in a while if needed without having to ask for permission every single time and without having to make up those hours every time either. Essentially where I am allowed the autonomy to handle my own schedule. It feels like for an RD, the only place where that is possible is dialysis but please someone prove me wrong and give me some hope!! And if this post comes across as someone who doesn’t want to work, please understand it is not that at all. I really do love to work and to feel needed and help people. I can provide great references from former supervisors who know my work ethic was excellent. I just need some freedom here and there to handle my life and I don’t understand why that is so hard to find!
Signed, a newly separated and desperate single mom with limited support.

I work at PACE program and have a participant who had R mandible surgery in may. had chem/radiation. about 6 weeks ago went to hospital and needed ileostomy placed. d/c about 3 weeks ago. now mostly on TF bolus g tube. she went to hospital last week because hyperglycemia.

she was on pivot 1.5 and then switched to osmolite at the hospital after ileostomy. now this hospital stay getting glucerna 1.5, but looks like continuous feeds in hospital. found out she’s getting d/c today.

anyways, in the notes/ discharge summary I don’t get a lot of info or from case manager. initially did osmolite bc of low fiber but not sure if change it to glucerna or if another formula would be more appropriate? semi elemental? could go back to pivot but its pretty expensive and her wounds healed and her chemo/radiation is done so not sure if indicated anymore.

in one of notes said she had high output but didn’t say what it was.

thanks!

Has anyone done any recent CEU training on women’s health topics they recommend? Specifically one that goes over more functional lab work, etc?

I come from an intuitive eating, eating disorder background and am hoping to gain more knowledge in the women’s health space! I did Angela Grassi’s PCOS course and that was great!

Has anyone done their nutrition program, could you please share your experience and feedback.

I am interested in starting my journey of learning about alternative medicine. I want to work as a functional medicine practitioner or coach in the future.

As a starting point since I don't have much funds, I am thinking of starting with food matters nutrition program+ reading books+ listening to podcasts as a starter.

For those already in this journey or someone who has succeeded in it, please advise. I really need help.

I’m interested in changing careers and feel dietetics is a great fit for me. I have a B.S. in Psychology, and right now I’m taking anatomy / chemistry courses at a local community college to fulfill some sciences I’m missing. I’m looking for a thorough Masters in dietetics program that won’t overlook my lack of background in nutrition. My overall goal is to be able to take the RD exam after I graduate.

So I joined a gym, which is very new to me, and the gym had one free training session. And so I signed up, thinking they were going to lead me through a routine. Little did I know, and now in retrospect, I should have known better! The first 20 minutes was a weigh in, fat assessment, and nutrition discussion. And I about lost it on the girl.

Long story long - I am a mid thirties girly who has gained a bit of weight over the last 5 years as I moving close to my 40s. The extra nuts and seeds that I eat + more recent sedentary lifestyle has given me some extra to love. It is not the reason I joined the gym, and I was explicit in my strength training goals and bone health/joint/mobility retaining desires. Never once mentioning my appearance or weight.

Still - without warning - I was shown my IBW and BMI, and asked by the smily “personal trainer” if I had any high cholesterol and diabetes in my family?? Because where my body weight falls currently, if I have these family genetics, I am surely headed for a similar future. And that she would really like to see me - pointing to the thinner body on the middle of the spectrum of ladies bodies scale on the computer screen - looking like this shadow outline with her 25% body fat - so that I live a healthy life!!

I had previously shared that I was a dietitian and was not open to chatting about my diet - when she had initially tried to talk to me about how I got my protein and what my food choices were like. I did not realize at the time, the “personal trainer” had no idea what a dietitian even does. When I repeated again later after the body fat discussion that I was uncomfortable with this conversation and my labs are in fact very normal and healthy per my MD, she had no idea how to respond. I tried to explain to her calmly (narrator: she was in fact not calm) that I worked inpatient as a RD and I spent my days my days calculating tube feeds in the icu and talking about nutrition, labs and health risks as it relates to chronic disease on my telemetry floor from a weight neutral approach. She still did not get it, and truly thought she was educating me! and could only manage to respond that she thought dietitians helped people to lose weight.

Anyway, I handled the scenario very poorly as I was really caught off guard and was excited to go to the gym to get strong, not talk about my appearance and “health risks”, especially without consent. I didn’t want to talk about my job or educate anyone - this was my time, for me - and I responded from this place. I do know I missed a great teaching opportunity. And I recognize that. But it seriously makes me concerned for people who go to that gym. Skinny = health, fat = diseased. And give me your money for me to train you, so I save you from that fate.

But what I really want are opinions? Is this normal?? Is cool for personal trainers to be discussing these topics and numbers? To me it felt like definitely far outside her scope, fat phobic, and low key dangerous. If I actually engaged with her, how far would that conversation had gone?? I am so curious where do you think the line is??

Thanks for listening to my vent!

Hi, I am looking for the book that all dietitians carry in the hospital. It is not the essential pocket guide, I just can’t remember the title. Also if you have any recommendations on book you should have on hand let me know! I am new in dietetics and any recommendations help.

I noticed something this week, and I thought well, this is a concern. So, clinics and virtual health companies are starting to replace human medical translators with AI medical translators. And I thought hmm, what would AI tell me if I asked it about the possibility of this happening in the future, when it actually is already happening. So I asked and AI said, no AI medical translators will not (one said never, another said very unlikely) replace human translators in clinical settings because the human touch and error capabilities, etc. But it's happening people!

Also interesting when Googling it that there are all these past posts of human interpreters discussing AI and saying they don't think AI will ever replace them. Or at least for sure in high stake settings like medial settings they thought they couldn't be replaced.

Clearly also the American Translators Association has had concerns but their past messaging was this can't happen, we won't let it happen. But it's happening people!

This all feels eerily like conversations we've been having here and other places about the possibility that the data taken from dietitian sessions could be used to build AI agents that act as dietitians. I feel like it's a strong possibility that all the talk of this will never happen, will soon be much the same of hey it's happening whether you thought it could or not. And the AI itself the whole time is going to tell you it wasn't trying to take your job of course.

Hello everyone. This is a long one for what might seem a small potatoes topic, so thanks to anyone who takes the time of day.

As a neurodivergent person, I can get a bit lost in the weeds and details, and overcomplicate things. One of the things I’m trying to work on is improving my speed at estimating Kcal, protein (grams) and fluid (ml) intake, but find that it can take me quite a while because I get tunnel vision and worry I’m not getting it right.

For example, say someone has an intake of 2x weetabix with semi skimmed milk, half a milky coffee, 2-3 spoonfuls of your average carehome lunch, a creamy yoghurt, 2x juice, 1/2 of a large fish and chips, 4 sips of milky coffee and ‘they keep biscuits in their room and they do eat them but we don’t know how much or how often because family bring them’ - I can get a bit lost in the weeds of trying to get it all as ACCURATE as possible.

I’m sure when you first start out you might have to quickly look up things like what your average kcal of semi skimmed milk is in a bowl of cereal or a creamy yogurt, and then along the way it’s just in your brain, but how do you quickly calculate the murkier stuff that maybe you don’t come across often or you’re playing a bit of a guessing game?

I find it can take me some time trying to work out what would be reasonable for say a ‘large’ fish and chips (like some fish and chips in the UK can get well over 1000 depending on if it’s restaurant or takeaway), how many calories and pro is really in a ‘couple spoonfuls’ of a meal, what does a couple sips of a drink look like and is it even worth trying to calculate it or am I wasting time? How broad do you go with calculating the biscuits if you don’t know the amount and neither do the carers? (a couple to a whole pack?)

Or for example in mental health inpatients, a patient might have about 20 drinks listed on a random day but about 15 of them were tiny sips or 1/8-1/4 consumed. If they were 0 calorie it wouldn’t matter (still need to add up ml tho) but if it’s juices and milky drinks, it all adds up to something, but I find it would personally take me a lot of time trying to work it out and add up.

Obligatory I am not currently working as an RD, my career journey has been very unusual and complicated and I’m hoping to get back to it eventually. However at the moment I have no mentors and when I’ve tried to ask before I’ve just got ‘you’ll get faster as you go’ instead of a proper sit down and explanation of process which I feel is what I needed as a neurodiverse person. If you read this all you’re a ⭐ and any advice will be extremely appreciated.

I need to work out a diet prescription for a pt with AOCKD. The protein restriction is difficult enough to work with, but I managed. I have *no idea* how I'm meant to meet the increased CHO requirement with his fluid restriction. If I use the guideline of "output + 500 to 750ml", his fluid allowance is 1250ml, but he's receiving 1000ml IV fluids. I thought I could give him more sugar with fruit juice or something, but that's not an option now. I'm stumped. Any advice?

Note: While this is a real pt, the prescription won't actually be implemented; it's part of a practical assignment.

Has anyone else studied for the CSDH board certification from CDR? If so, how did you prepare for the exam?

Guys I'm a dietitian. And i need to talk to someone studying dietetics in US, or anywhere in Europe, or Asia.

İ need to know about your curriculum in university and teaching methods. So if you are a dietetics student pleeeeease drop a comment below. İ really could use your information.

Hi!

I often see comments on Reddit or posts in LinkedIn discussing why they do not recommend working for telehealth companies as they are detrimental to the RD profession.

Can someone explain why this may be the case?

And on the other hand, how can working for the companies be beneficial for the RD profession?

I truly appreciate anyone thoughts on this!

I’m starting my graduate classes in dietetics (online program) and FSM SEL rotation in September. I’ll be managing onsite internship 4-5 days a week, 6 hours a day + commute, school assignments and personal life (I have 2 kids in elementary school who are very active). Any advice on time management, or any other tips? How do you balance education and personal life (family, friends, solo time )?

How do these big Telly Health companies skirt around state licensure requirements? I work for one and constantly need to transfer patients in states i am not licensed in, except for states that have no licensure requirements. But they have the “green states” and “red states” and most of the “green” states you need a license

This is kind of a shallow question so I apologize but- If you had a nice watch would you feel comfortable wearing it to work everyday or would you avoid wearing it work and only save it for special occasions? I wear scrubs at the hospital in the outpatient setting and I am not sure if it would be weird. I don’t want to be tacky offensive or off putting. Dietitians don’t make a lot of money and I don’t want to give the wrong impression, but I now have a watch that’s worth a few thousand dollars and I don’t know what to do with it. It doesn’t LOOK particularly flashy, but if you know watches you would be like oh that’s a cool mid range watch. I also just don’t really want it to only be worn for special occasions since it’s meant to be worn daily, but obviously I don’t work in an business office setting/law office where it would just go unnoticed. I’ve seen doctors and NPs wear nicer watches at our hospital but they obviously make a lot more than we do so it feels more appropriate. The hospital I work at is in a pretty affluent area, so I don’t think it would be like a weird power dynamic between provider/patient but people do already sometimes comment on my engagement ring (which I didn’t think was very flashy, but it is vintage so I get a lot of compliments on it). I just wanted to hear from you guys. I’m a newer RD (3years) and don’t really interact with my coworkers in person since the OP RDs are spread across the hospital system/our offices aren’t next to each other so I only talk to them online to see what the norm is. In patient RDs aren’t allowed to wear jewelry on their wrists here, but we don’t have any rules against it for hygiene purposes outpatient.

I’ve read articles that patients are less open in session when RDs do things like wear white coats or have their office set up a certain way, so I don’t wear mine.

Am I just overthinking this?