Oh, you study nutrition? Must be really easy.

I started a new volunteer position today.  One of the receptionists in the post-natal clinic of the hospital asked what I study at school.  I told her that I'm in nutrition, aiming to become a dietitian.

Receptionist: Oh, that's neat.... must be really easy.
Me: Um.  Excuse me?
Receptionist: Well it's like, common sense, right?  Portion sizes and all that?
Me: *glowering* you'd be amazed how uncommon common sense can be. 
Receptionist: hahahahahhahaha.  So what do you do at school, like, just cooking or something?
Me: We're studying all aspects of food.  We do some cooking, but it's so that we can learn about food prep and modifications for patients who need them, about disease management with nutrition, nutrition needs at different stages of life, and consulting skills.  And dietitians do lots of things other than just talk about portion sizes, like community nutrition counselling and diabetes education, or they might work in clinical settings... like a breastfeeding centre? *looks at the room we are currently standing in*

Sigh.

As someone who works in a BREASTFEEDING CENTRE, you'd think that the receptionist would realize that hey, maybe nutrition people are needed to help these mothers and infants?  Mom needs to eat enough and consume enough of particular nutrients to satisfy not only her needs, but also the baby's needs.  Or maybe she thinks that the dietitian would tell the infant that they need to eat 6 portions of boobs every day.  *headsmack*  Not to mention that if all my program was about was cooking stuff, why would I be volunteering at a hospital in a place other than the kitchen?????  Seriously.

So let's set the record straight here.  Nutrition professionals work in a lot of different settings, and include many different levels of education and certification.  In a hospital setting, everyone from the receiving clerks and chefs to the people assembling trays on a belt line, to the dietary aides who deliver trays to rooms, to the dietitians and menu clerks who set the menu and therapeutic modifications (for allergies, soft/puree/minced diets, for illnesses like diabetes, etc), and everyone in between count as "nutrition professionals".  Each of these people has to obtain a certain level of education, usually specialized for their field (e.g. food technician training), and often have to obtain other certifications (such as a Food Handler's certificate, or registration with a regulatory body).  Every person in this flow of food has a special role in ensuring that every patient in the hospital receives the correct nourishment that is appropriate for their condition.  You wouldn't want to send a steak dinner up to someone who is supposed to be on a puree diet due to choking risk, or a pasta dinner to someone with Celiac disease.  Also wouldn't want to be serving up expired or improperly heated/cooled food - you don't want to make sick people even sicker. 

Common sense?  Maybe.  But try coordinating that common sense for a hospital with 300+ hungry people in it, many with special dietary needs. 

Dietitians do a lot more than just say "eat this, not that, this amount, this number of portions.  Go." Because really, that's unhelpful to everyone.  In clinical settings, dietitians might be involved in consulting with patients who have been recently diagnosed with a condition (heart disease, diabetes, Crohn's/colitis, severe food allergies, cancer, infections, recent surgeries, recently used a ventilator/breathing tube, diverticulitis, inflammation, stroke, oral diseases/dentures, swallowing difficulties, using certain medications that impair nutrient absorption, etc. etc. etc.), because for these people, the things that they can and can't eat are not "common sense".  For example, when my dad was undergoing chemo, numerous dietitians visited to talk about some of the dietary side effects of chemo -- foods that won't be appetizing and those that he'll want to try, ensuring that he meets his dietary needs with a reduced appetite, nausea and mouth sores (very common in chemo), medication effects on nutrition status, and a nutrition plan when he was released to ensure that his appetite returned to normal and he met his nutritional needs during recovery and remission.  Common sense?

I posted once before about some of the other roles of dietitians, so I won't bore you again with it :) One thing that I really wish I'd said about the portion size comment though was that hey - who do you think decides what a portion size is, or how many you're supposed to eat?  Ever wonder why the American version of the food requirements is different from Canada?  Ever seen one from Asia or Latin America (quite different!)?  Guess what.  There are nutrition professionals in government and public health offices too who figure this kind of stuff out :)



And for the record, I love my program because I love learning about food and want to educate, help, and heal people, not because it's easy.  Because it is not easy.  If it were that easy, there would be no need for dietitians to consult with patients or clients -- after all, its just common sense, right?