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Martin takes helm of RD internship program Registered dietitians no longer evoke images of home economics and hairnets. The field is becoming so demanding and sought after by various industries that the profession is literally wide open.   The qualifications for a registered dietitian (RD) reflect basic academic prerequisites that could as easily get them into medical school, such as coursework and lab experience in organic chemistry and microbiology.   “For anyone to be accepted in the registered dietitian program, once prerequisites are met, they must then complete an American Dietetic Association-accredited didactic program in dietetics (DPD), which results in either a bachelor’s or master’s degree,“ said Kelley Martin, a registered direction and director of MUSC’s dietetic internship program. “While each program is unique, examples of commonly offered coursework in DPDs include advanced food chemistry, nutritional epidemiology and statistics, medical nutrition therapy and even health administration and psychology.”    Kelley Martin Only after they complete this DPD, and perhaps attaining a Ph.D., all graduates must complete a supervised practice internship, such as the one at MUSC, before they are eligible to sit for the registered dietitian exam. Only then can they place “RD” behind their name. “People don’t understand the educational track and qualifications that a registered dietitian has to have,” Martin said.   While RDs are best known for recommending healthy eating habits and counseling patients on weight management, the scope of the RD practice is much broader. They are found in hospital-based settings where they recommend complex parenteral and enteral support (completed nutrition delivered intra-venously or through a tube inserted in the GI tract) and round with the medical team. They are in management positions found in schools, health departments, fitness centers, and other nutrition-related business and industry, in research centers,and in foodservice and culinary operations.   “RDs are trained to make sound recommendations using evidence-based medical research findings,” Martin explained. For instance, in a clinical setting, RDs may review lab results to determine the safest and most effective tube feeding recommendation to prescribe by taking into consideration the formula type and delivery rate, potential drug interactions and patient tolerability.   This year's dietietic interns are (front row from left) Charlotte Crotte, Christie Turner and Caryn Radney; (back from left) Anna Harris, Tiffany Evans, Grace Bridgman, Sarah Conrad and Corrine Rossi. The field is emerging, along with the various alerts and trends bombarding society, in the workplace, in health care settings and in the home. Martin said that the culinary and food industries are using RDs in research and development activities. Pharmaceutical companies use RDs in study coordination and research monitoring. Laboratories engage the expertise of RDs to help determine genetic and environmental links to disease. And of course, the health care industry still maintains the largest army of RDs as they become critical in patient care and recovery, often saving  the hospital money by reducing infections, promoting the healing process and decreasing the length of stay.   Martin received her master’s degree in public health nutrition from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She manages the eight MUSC dietetic interns and serves as a program coordinator in nutritional research in the Digestive Disease Center.   Last summer, she replaced Stephanie Tranen, who retired in May, to run the 10-year-old program. Martin said she is committed to pursuing excellence in the field. She also lauds the recent decision by the S.C. House of Representatives to require licensure of RDs as a profession.   “As registered dietitians (not to be confused with nutritionists), we’re all registered across the nation,” Martin said. “However, we were one of the last states to finally get state licensure. Licensure is needed for registered dietitians so that we are recognized as experts in nutritional sciences, and to protect the public from fraudulent recommendations often provided by under-qualified individuals.” Not to question the allure of the profession, but dreaming of being a dietitian is not something most people do at a young age. Martin didn’t either.   “My college freshman year was tough, and I was not getting the same grades I was accustomed to getting in high school,” recalled the former competitive swimmer.  “By the time I was a sophomore, I knew I wanted to go into the health field. I received my first A in a ‘nutrition 101’ course. It was the first class I truly enjoyed, and have been hooked ever since.”   Martin has been at MUSC for more than 10 years, first as a pediatric dietitian, then as the nutrition research manager in the General Clinical Center.     Friday, Nov. 3, 2006 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.