I have been a registered dietitian at Children's Hospital for just two years, but the experience has already changed my plans for the future. When I was in graduate school, I focused my studies on nutrition support in trauma, which is where I initially wanted to work. This field of nutrition focuses on providing individuals who have experienced trauma with the energy and protein they need to build defenses so they can heal. Even though I have only been working at Children's Hospital for a short time, I have realized how much I love working with children, and I know this is where I want to stay.

I chose the field of nutrition because I enjoy working with people and helping them make healthy choices that will give them a better quality of life. Working with children gives me the opportunity to help both young and old. Because parents play such an important role in maintaining healthy nutrition for their children, they are very involved in the programs and counseling their child receives. This gives me the opportunity to reach both children and adults.

Being a registered dietitian gives me a chance to help people with a very important part of their life. As Americans, we use food to celebrate, to socialize, or to ease emotions. Eating has become more than just a necessity, and it can really affect our lives. Through dietary education programs, I am able to help children feel comfortable and healthy about the food choices they make.

A typical day for a dietitian at Children's Hospital is not very typical. Each day varies depending on the patients in the hospital. Generally, people think dietitians only help people who are overweight, but working at Children's Hospital gives me the opportunity to help children with a condition called "failure to thrive." Children who have this condition don't develop at a normal rate and must be put on a high calorie diet so they have enough energy to catch up. Every day I spend hours assessing children's growth and nutritional needs so that I can create dietary plans for patients and patient families who need nutritional guidance.

I spend part of my week working with inpatients at the main hospital and the other part of the week working with patients at Children's Hospital Rehabilitation Center. At the Rehab Center, I work with a mixture of patients including outpatients, private practice patients, and Children's Corner patients. Children's Corner is a day treatment program for medically fragile children, many of whom have special dietary needs. My job as a dietitian is to help train families and parents how to prepare food to nourish these special needs children.

It is very exciting to see the results of my work. Recently, I worked with an overweight six-year-old who lost 40 pounds. This is a difficult task for anyone, but for a six-year-old, it's amazing. It has been so rewarding to watch this patient's transformation both physically and socially. His social skills have improved so much, and his self-confidence is now outstanding.

Working at Children's Hospital has made me realize I have a passion to help children. I love coming to work every day and being surrounded by so many unique personalities. I am constantly encouraged by the determination and motivation my patients show.