DanielleH_RD
I didn't start out to be a dietitian. I graduated with a Bachelors in Psychology from Cal State - I knew a bachelors wasn't going to get me where I wanted to go, so I applied to grad school. Much to my surprise, graduate schools were saturated with new grads, looking for a spot in the impacted programs. I was an excellent student, and never thought for a second I would have trouble getting into grad school. My counselor advised me to "do something to make yourself stand out". I thought about that, continued bartending to make ends meet, and pondered my life for a while.
A year passed and my mom sat me down and let me know I needed to get a "real" job. She came prepared with college catalogs, and one of them caught my eye. Loma Linda University had a dietetic program. My thought was, I could go get a dietetic degree, re-apply to grad school in psychology and work with eating disorders. (This was my plan!).
Life is funny. I did complete my studies and internship in dietetics. I had a wonderful opportunity to do part of my internship in Austria - and work in the eating disorders clinic. What happened along the way - I fell in love with dietetics! What a great profession - everyone eats! I have job security with that fact alone! I gave up on psychology as a major, and switched to dietetics.
Since those fateful days, I have worked in many different areas of nutrition. I have always been fascinated by the amazing complexity of the human body. The chemistry of disease, health, and growth are areas where we have an emerging science that will change the way we operate in the future. My work as a dietitian has taken me from complex fields such as transplant and intensive care to routine diet education in hospital. I have taught at the community college, worked in community health programs, managed nutrition departments in hospitals, worked at the bedside, and in the consultant's chair. I have met amazing professionals who have enhanced my experiences. More than that, I have had amazing patients who have taught me more than I could ever learn in books. My life is richer for the people I have encountered in my practice.
