Sunday, March 9, 2008

Celebrate National Dietitian's Day!








To all my friends, mentors, and teachers who are Registered Dietitians, I salute you! Thank you for guiding my career and enriching my life.

I first heard the word dietitian from a fellow grad student (Joann Simon, now Joann Simon Carson, PhD, RD) sitting next to me in my statistics class at The University of Wisconsin during the fall of 1973. It took me a few years to change tack from my original graduate school plans to fulfill the necessary undergraduate class requirements to be accepted by a dietetic internship, which I began in June, 1975. I finally completed my internship and MS in Nutritional Sciences from The University of Wisconsin-Madison in December, 1977, a month after the birth of my first son Eric. A few months later in April 1978 I took the national registration exam, and only within the past few weeks did I realize that I have now been a Registered Dietitian for 30 years!

I have loved every job I have had, every place I have worked, and all the professional volunteer opportunities I have had throughout the past 30 years. I consider myself fortunate to have enjoyed my work, my colleagues, and my patients. I hope that I have made a difference in patient care. I know that my guiding mantra has always been to "keep the care in health care".

I still enjoy my profession, and even though I consider myself "somewhat retired", there will always be more to learn, more to share, and more new friends to meet.

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

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