By Nina Deats, Chad Edwards, Maria Mentsel, Lynn Kramer of the Philadelphia Dietetic Association and Jan Little, PADA President 2006
What a great day we had promoting nutrition and dietetics careers at the Northeast High School Health Fair on April 25 2006. At 3,800 students, NE HS is the largest in The School District of Philadelphia. Jan Little, Chad Edwards, Nina Deats, Maria Mentsel, Lynn Kramer took time out of their busy schedules; Chad, on his way to work at Temple University Hospital, Nina, the day before overseeing the programming at the Annual Meeting and Exhibition in King of Prussia. Maria, a renal RD, and Lynn, solo practitioner, had or took the day off to answer students' questions about nutrition and careers.
How did we get this opportunity? Jan, along with Ruth McGinley, promoted careers in nutrition and dietetics at the PA School Counselors Association's 50th Annual Conference in March. Jan met two counselors from NE HS. As a result, the counselors asked the school nurses running the Health Fair at NE HS to include PADA so we could to promote nutrition as well as dietetics careers.
The RNs at the high school appreciated our participating. Please click here for the letter of appreciation we received from them. A new group of students came into the gymnasium
at the start of every period from 8 am to 2 pm. It was startling to hear the sound of the bell signaling the beginning and end of each period. Other booths at the fair were student science
projects, massage therapy, asthma nurses, etc. The most popular attraction had to be the weight lifting challenge in one corner of the gym. We literally could not see this feature all day as students, mainly young men, crowded in front of it.
Jan Little and Chad Edwards were joined by Nina Deats at 7:45 am. Many students dropped by the table. Chad, an acute care dietitian at Temple University Hospital, fielded a question about Crohn's Disease and Celiac Disease, among others. You can read Chad's "Testimonial" on the Career Page. Jan counseled a senior, soon to be a communications major, considering a
double major in nutrition/dietetics. Can you imagine how successful a Latina RD would be in the media in the near future?
Nina met at least one physical education teacher, asking how to contact a registered dietitian to speak to a class or team. Nina is an acute care RD at Einstein Hospital, the Paoli Building, and has long been interested in mentoring middle/high school and college students through the process of becomming dietetics professionals.
Maria met the main biology teacher, a runner who trains Althea Zanecosky, recent ADA spokesperson. Maria, a renal RD, dazzled the students as she discussed what a renal specialist does and how to become one. Of course, we all passed out business cards for the state website's Career Page. Click here for the template for Avery Standard 8371 business card. We gave out ADA career materials to the most interested.
One student commented he didn't know you had to go to college to be a RD. This is a common comment. It shows there is a need for dietetics professionals to insure that students interested in science, health and people learn about our profession in order to possibly pursue it.
One young man, 6'3" told Lynn his MD thought he was overweight. Lynn determined he wasn't. It was gratifying that students felt they could share their concerns about health and nutrition with us within earshot of their peers. Each of us received our share of questions about diabetes (“My mother has it.”) We were able to refer the students to our website, the Find a RD feature. Lynn, a solo practitioner, is listed in this feature. How good it was for the students to meet a RD who has her own business.
What did we tell students about our careers?
Click here for the tip sheet and "Remarks from directors of PA
Programs in Dietetics."
In the interest in conserving handouts, we referred the students to the Career Page slideshow running on a lap top. Try to have an electrical outlet, as after three hours, the laptop turned off.
Click here to download the slide show, showing our upgraded website, Career Page features, Resources Home Page and PA District Finder.
It doesn't hurt to have handouts as a back-up or as "table copies":
Click here for the flow charts to become a RD and DTR.
Click here for lists of PA programs
in dietetics by type: CUP, DPD and DI as well as DTR programs.
What was our most popular take-away item? Pens! Normally given out in Make Time for Health presentations, our website url appears on the pens. But, recipes that Nina Deats brought got their attention, too. Quite a few students were interested in nutrition/dietetics careers. One student proclaimed, "It's cool!"
What was the biggest attraction? Plastic food models showing recommended portion sizes. Jan owns these, purchased from Nasco. The students had quite a reaction to the recommended portion sizes. Often, a student would hold up a 3 ounce portion of chicken, incredulous that such a small serving size would meet anyone's nutrient needs. Having a model of 5 lbs. of fat is reportedly an effective visual aid, too.
Jan brought handouts from PADAF's Make Time for Health program. Many students were interested in the week of meals and recipes given to parents of elementary school students. The Healthy Bites newsletter written by Karen Buch, PR Co-Chair, for Weis Markets was a good example of a job a registered dietian can hold.
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