My Journey to RD

This post is long over due! I am finally getting to adding blog posts to my website, including recipe ideas, updates about nutrition and yoga, and topics that I think you might enjoy. For my first post, I wanted to tell you a little bit about how I got started in becoming a Registered Dietitian.

I decided to become a RD back in 2008. Knowing I was interested in nutrition for so many reasons, (I’ll get to that in another post) I looked into what a career in nutrition would look like. I discovered that the experts in the field are called Registered Dietitians, and it took quite a bit of school and work to get there. Essentially, I had to go to college all over again due to the all the science courses I would need to even be considered into a Masters Program in Nutrition.

I was certain that this was the career path for me and I was excited to get started. I was overcome with excitement as I read my acceptance letter to Teachers College at Columbia University’s Nutrition Education Masters Program. Living in New York City was another dream of mine that was about to come true.

After 3 years at Columbia, it was time for me to apply to my Dietetic Internship (DI). This is where future RD’s work with current RD’s for 1200+ hours of supervision in the field. It is a matching system, similar to applying for residency as a med student. Columbia has an excellent DI Program, which is a big reason I wanted to attend grad school there. I remember the day I matched with Columbia for my DI program, it was another proud achievement and moment of happiness for me.

My DI included a year of rotations- Manhattan Physicians Group, a nutrition blog called Appetite For Health, Gay Men’s Health Crisis Center, Hospital for Special Surgery, Terrance Cardinal Cooke Long Term Care Facility, Ramaz School in Food Service, and The Ryan Center for Women, Infants and Children.

After I completed my thesis, graduated from Columbia and finished my DI program, I was able to take the exam for Registered Dietitians. I studied hard for this! I attended a prep course and spent weeks preparing. On October 9th, 2013 I passed; I was officially an RD after 5 long years of work!

My first job, interestingly, was in the Pharmaceutical industry working with diabetes. I did this for 3 years with territories all over Manhattan. I enjoyed so many things about this career- the connections, educating physicians and pharmacists, learning more about diabetes, the travel, the opportunity for growth, and the independence.

During my last year in NYC in 2016, I started working part time for a company called Virtual Health Partners in providing nutrition counseling via their online platform. I continued to do this during my transition to California. It gave me the experience in counseling I felt like I needed to take the step in launching my own business.

My vision in becoming an RD was always to eventually have my own practice. The courage came to me to pursue this dream during a yoga retreat in Bali last New Years, 2018. I am proud to say that during the past year I have made this vision come to life and I couldn’t be more excited to share it with you. Since pursuing this, I have completed my 300 hour advanced yoga teacher training and become a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor. I am passionate about continuing to learn and grow in this field, to be able to provide my clients with the best guidance possible.

Thank you for reading about my journey. I hope we stay connected through this community!

Dianna