Your Guide To Virtual Counseling Part I: Telephone Counseling
By Sarah Koszyk, RD July 2011
Technology is enhancing our ability to counsel people in many new
and different styles from the standard in-person counseling sessions.
With the increase in computer and phone technology, counseling can
be taken to other levels via phone, email, chat rooms, online forums,
and more. This three part series will take a look at the various aspects
of virtual counseling starting with the oldest form: phone counseling.
Insurance reimbursement is in a class of its own when trying to get
paid for services rendered. Questions arise, payments get denied,
and providers get frustrated. Here is a quick tip guide to streamline
your insurance reimbursement process and get paid in a timely, low-stress
manner.
Dr. Karen Reznik Dolins, EdD, RD, CSSD, CDN, is
a Lecturer at Teacher's College, Columbia University, Sports Dietitian
for Columbia University's Department of Intercollegiate Athletics
and Physical Education, Nutrition Consultant to the New York Knicks,
and guest lecturer for the WNBA, Cirque du Soleil, and Lake Placid
Ironman Triathlon
NutritionJobs: What career mistakes have you made along the way?
Karen Dolins: Many, I'm sure. I'll tell you that the most difficult thing for me
is tooting my own horn. Marketing is not a strength of mine. As a
result, I've lost out on some opportunities. I had one great opportunity
that didn't go anywhere. I think I was too nervous at the time and didn't
do enough receptive listening. I never got feedback, but my guess is that
I could have been a better listener to the athletes, and been more sensitive
to the fact that they were getting information from a wide variety of people
and I perhaps could have been more open to being sensitive to that.
Simple Steps To Take Towards A Career In Corporate Wellness
By Sarah Koszyk, RD April 2011
Corporate Wellness can bring a multitude of opportunities for registered dietitians. Corporations
are now spending more and more money on prevention and health programs for their employees.
Some of the various examples of possible corporate opportunities for an RD are the following:
Weight management programs for employees which can include (but not limited to) webinars, online food
tracking tools, and weight management contests Monthly cooking demonstrations Lunch-and-learn presentations
including various health and wellness topics (develop a series of presentations) Food service consulting
including menu analysis and menu enhancement.
So how do you get into the door of these corporations with your program
proposals? Take a look at these tips from the experts: Denice
Ferko-Adams, RD, President of Wellness
Press and the 2011 Weight Management DPG Symposium Chair.
Be Your Own Boss: Is Private Practice the Career Path for You?
By Sarah Koszyk, RD March 2011
Freedom, hard-work, and perseverance are a few of the characteristics
that describe private practice. Not every personality or preference
fits the private practice model. If you are contemplating a career
in private practice, here are some important tips from the experts
to help pave your way.
NutritionJobs.com's Dietetic Career Spotlight Interview: Molly Kellogg, RD, LCSW; Nationally Recognized
Expert on Behavior Change and Motivational Interviewing.
By Tali Sedgwick, RD February 2011
NutritionJobs.com: You have been an RD for over 30 years and are
also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. You have two Master's Degrees
(Nutritional Science and Social Service), you are the author of several
publications, including "Counseling Tips for Nutrition Therapists,"
and you are a leading expert in Motivational Interviewing. All this
while also running your own nutrition and psychotherapy private practice
that specializes in eating disorders, disordered eating and binge
eating. Impressive! Can you tell us how you got where you are?
Molly Kellogg: My first jobs in nutrition were in a WIC program
and then in a hospital pre-natal clinic. I wanted to help people eat
better! I then started a private practice on a part time basis in
the 1980's. During this time, eating disorders started coming my way
and I realized I needed more skills. I started taking workshops, reading,
trying to figure it out, until finally I decided I needed to more
training and went back to school to get a Social Work degree in the
mid 1990's. As I was getting that degree I realized my colleagues
were going to be therapists, and that I could become a psychotherapist
too. I never planned to leave the field of nutrition but this is the
way it evolved, and the fields are very complimentary. I started getting
asked by nutrition colleagues to do workshops and training on counseling
skills. Now half of what I do is writing, speaking, and training nutritional
professionals on counseling. I mostly train dietitians who work in
private practice, outpatient hospital clinics, or eating disorder
programs where they realize, as I did, that we didn't get enough counseling
training in our nutrition training.
NutritionJobs's Dietetic Career Spotlight Interview: "Nutrition Info, Aisle Six" Nutrition Jobs Interviews Three More Grocery Store Dietitians
By Tali Sedgwick, RD January 2011
We had the pleasure of interviewing three more power-players in the supermarket
arena. All three are dietitians who enjoy getting their health message out to the masses
and helping consumers choose healthy options from the start - in their grocery cart!
NutritionJobs.com's Dietetic Career Spotlight Interview: Barbara Ruhs, MS, RD, LDN, Corporate Dietitian for Bashas' Grocery Stores
By Tali Sedgwick, RD December 2010
NutritionJobs.com: You recently spoke on the topic of Supermarket Nutrition at
FNCE this year and discussed the opportunities for dietitians as "Supermarket Dietitians".
Can you tell us how you found yourself in the position as a Corporate Dietitian for the
Arizona grocery store chain, Bashas'?
Barbara Ruhs: My exposure to education in the supermarket setting
started when I was an undergraduate at Cornell in the 1990's. I worked as a research
assistant for a work study project leading supermarket tours at Wegman's (an East Coast
grocery store chain). The seed was planted. During graduate school and my internship at
Boston University, I did a community health rotation at Boston Public Schools. This
experience solidified my interest in public health. My first job was working for the
Massachusetts Child Nutrition Programs implementing the Dietary Guidelines in school
meals. Changing school meals for better health was challenging due to many things,
including financial constraints. Making global changes in government programs takes
a lot of time and political will. I found myself asking the question, "There must be
a better way to make difference?". So, I started my own business, Neighborhood
Nutrition, to bring the message back to the local level and use retail venues to
educate. I pitched the idea to store personnel in my neighborhood at Whole Foods
and Trader Joe's. I even had the opportunity to present the idea at the corporate
offices for large retailers in Boston, including Stop & Shop and Shaws. There was a
positive response, however, the missing piece was funding. No one had a corporate
budget for nutrition education or health promotion. So I continued to build my
private practice and worked as a dietitian for Harvard University. The exposure
to different ethnic, educational and financial backgrounds of the clientele inspired
me to develop new approaches to solve public health issues. Eventually I received a
lead about a supermarket job at Bashas' in Arizona and jumped at the opportunity
for my dream job.
NutritionJobs.com's Dietetic Career Spotlight Interview: Wanda Siu-Chan, MS, RD, Dietetic Internship Program Director at San Francisco State University
By Tali Sedgwick, RD November 2010
NutritionJobs.com: You have been the Dietetic Internship (DI) Program Director
at San Francisco State University (SFSU) for over 5 years where you program and coordinate
supervised practice experience for 10-12 interns annually and maintain 50+ preceptors in
clinical, food service, skilled nursing and community facilities around the San Francisco
Bay Area. How has the landscape changed since you have been a DI Program Director?
Wanda Siu-Chan, MS, RD: Getting into internships has become extremely
competitive. I really feel for the many applicants who are certainly well qualified for a
dietetic internship, but do not get matched. Because of the large number of applicants vying
for limited spots, especially on the East and West coast, the applicants who are generally
matched have very high GPAs and extensive work and volunteer experience.
NutritionJobs.com's Career Spotlight Interview: Marie Miller, DTR
By Tali Sedgwick, RD October 2010
NutritionJobs.com: You received your Diet Technician registered (DTR) certificate
at Merritt College in 2008 and have worked at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC)
and with Byram Healthcare. Would you consider your jobs traditional or non-traditional?
Nancy Bloom: I would consider both my jobs have traditional aspects but also
rather untraditional aspects in terms of what I am able to do under the supervision of an RD.
What does your day look like at SFVAMC?
Working as a DTR at the SFVAMC, I work very closely with the RD's. I don't know of any other
place that gives you such lateral experience and amount of responsibility in the field. My
regular day at the SFVAMC can include a myriad of tasks such as a comprehensive screening of
patients at mildly/moderately compromised nutritional risk, nutrition consults, teaching
classes, DT intern and RD intern training, and special event planning.
NutritionJobs.com's RD Career Spotlight Interview:
Nancy Bloom, RD, Cardiovascular Associates of Marin & San Francisco
By Tali Sedgwick, RD
September 2010
NutritionJobs: You are currently working as an RD alongside a team of
cardiologists at the Cardiovascular Associates of Marin & San Francisco, where
you practice Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) with patients and their families.
Can you tell us how you got there?
Nancy Bloom: I've always liked cardiac nutrition having been a volunteer
with the American Heart Association since 1979. When I moved back to California
from New York I heard about an individual counseling job here through a friend.
I interviewed, got the job and I've been here over 12 years. At first my practice
ebbed and flowed. Then about 4 years ago, I took a Motivational Interviewing (MI)
course from Molly Kellogg, RD, from Philadelphia, and was able to take my
counseling program to another level and grow my practice to where it is today.
NutritionJobs.com's RD Career Spotlight Interview:
Tara DelloIacono Thies, RD, at Clif Bar & Co.
By Tali Sedgwick, RD-Eligible
August 2010
NutritionJobs: You have been the Nutrition Strategist at Clif
Bar & Co. for over 10 years. You started in the Customer Service Department
and then developed and expanded the Nutrition Department. Your current
role is in Nutrition Brand Strategy, Nutrition Education, Nutrition
Communication, and Nutrition Labeling Claims affairs. Tell us how
you got there.
Tara DelloIacono Thies: As you mentioned, I started in Consumer
Service (CS). They had just launched Luna Bar and were getting tons
of nutrition questions that they couldn't answer. Clif Bar had a dietitian
that consulted for them but they decided they needed an RD on staff
to answer these sorts of questions. The position quickly evolved into
having me train the CS department to answer the nutrition questions
we frequently received. I wrote nutrition resources for the CS team.
The brand and marketing teams then also started using those nutrition
resources, which linked into the development process for new products
that would impact the health of women, kids, and athletes. This all
fed into the strategy portion of my job, which is now what I spend
a lot of time thinking about and doing. Wondering how can we make
a healthy product that will really benefit certain populations.
NutritionJobs.com's RD Career Spotlight Interview:
Lee Unangst, RD
July 2010
NutritionJobs.com: You have a very unique career and job title
as a Dietitian Informaticist at the National Institutes of Health
(NIH) Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD. Your impressive resume reads
like that of an Information Technology Manager rather than a Registered
Dietitian. How would you describe your job?
Lee Unangst: I have a couple of major responsibilities. I do
everything from setting up servers and patching databases to processing
diet orders and figuring out why printers aren't printing out meal
tickets! I run our patient service using CBORD Foodservice Management
System. I serve as the ambassador between the kitchen, the dietetic
staff and the hospital's Information Technology (IT) department; I
help facilitate communication between groups with very different backgrounds.
My background in nutrition and clinical dietetics is critical in this
role. This job has been a great experience!
NutritionJobs.com: You own a very successful private nutrition
counseling practice in New Hampshire and are very involved with many
dietetic organizations. But this wasn't your first career. How did
you get your start?
Gita Patel: At the age of 45 I suddenly, and unexpectedly,
needed to be financially independent. I decided to go back to do my
internship to become a Registered Dietitian. This involved doing post
graduate course work.
NutritionJobs.com's RD Career Spotlight Interview:
Robin Plotkin,
RD LD www.robinplotkin.com
March 2010
NutritionJobs.com: You are the Past President of the Nutrition
Entrepreneurs dietetic practice group and own a successful practice
as a culinary and nutrition communications consultant. You are also
an accomplished writer and event producer. Your clients have included
Glaceau Waters, Which Wich Superior Sandwiches, Taco Bueno Restaurants,
Sara Lee, Bausch and Lomb, Unilever, Avocados from Mexico, popchips!,
Sysco Foods, Fisher Pay Kel Appliances, the American Institute of
Wine and Food and DMA & Associates, a produce industry boutique marketing
group. You represent an interesting side of dietetics.
Robin Plotkin: I hang out on the food side of dietetics! I
have always loved food and enjoy educating others, dietitians included,
about foods versus nutrients.
NutritionJobs.com: You are currently the Clinical Recruitment
Manager for Sodexo, USA, and you have also held the honored title of
President of the American Dietetic Association, 2004-2005. But you
started out in the pediatric intensive care unit. How did you make
the transition from pediatric dietetics to recruiting?
Ms. Laramee:
A lot of advances in nutrition science were happening when I first
started out as a dietitian. Tube feeding and TPN were becoming more
available. The RD role in the hospital was becoming clearer. In the
NICU, I had the opportunity to be part of a team of MD's and RN where
we learned from each other. But eventually I burned out on the intensity
of the job. It also became routine. I later discovered that there were
more career opportunities supporting our profession and in the business
end of dietetics.
You'll be surprised to learn who mentors her. Read on...
NutritionJobs.com: As a Registered Dietitian you have a unique
educational background. How has this influenced your ability to
provide nutrition counseling?
Ms. Ledesma:
I have a BA in Psychology but also went for a Master's in Nutrition
and launched a career as a sports nutritionist before settling in as
an oncology dietitian. Working with the WHEL study proved to be a
pivotal point in my career. I found my passion working with oncology
patients. My background in Psychology helps with one-on-one nutrition
counseling. You have currently integrated several different positions
to create an impressive career as a well respected RD in San Francisco.
By Sarah Koszyk, RD
