Hello and welcome to the pantry party. This is episode number ten, which is exciting and we're double digits. We are talking to a dear friend of our Simone ably. My name is Eliza and this is brand. We're your hosts. Yeah, so see me is one of my favorite people who I went to Union on my favorite people in January General. We she was like with us. Well me the whole way throughMy bachelor of nutrition and dietetics and we did a lot of placement work together actually think we're on placement together in third year, but we definitely do our whole public health placement which then led to a research project. So we've been working together for a long yours. Fun fact, I did my first group assignment in first semester for him and two others. Yeah. She's a she. He's a good'n he seems got a really interesting career in dietetics because we don't actually talk about this but she like topped our year like she was like the smartest most accomplished very intelligent egg. Yeah, so she did very very well in dietetics did really well in all of her clinical placements and then left uni. I did a little bit of work but overseas for a few weeks and then came back and started a job in insurance, which I'm sure to many a dietitian would be seen as a bit of a step sideways and not a typical career path. But as you'll soon find out in this conversation Sim is loving it and she's really well suited to this position. She also talks us through how she got there what she actually does and how it kind of utilizes the skills that she's learned throughout the course, so Is really good chat because it does give a really really different perspective like a lot of us in dietetics and kind of like you either do clinical or you to Public Health or your community or food industry. But this is like completely left field completely different realm but she's still having a really cool impact on people's health and on their recovery more than anything. Yeah, and I think the the one thing that jumps out to me is how seem talks about how she wants to manage the perception that He's not being a dietitian. I think deep down that something that we're all struggling with a little bit. Is that kind of fear that if we don't get a role that he's and a typical dietetics role, then we're not being a dietitian and we're not using our degree and we're not making the heck step worth it, but I think we have a really good discussion around that and how Sometimes you just need to stand up for yourself and be like Mom know I'm technically not, you know a typical digestion, but I'm using so many skills that were in my dietetic degree. So I'm not discrediting my profession or discrediting my degree in any way. It's a very tough conversation to be had and I think there's a lot of people that can make comments like that which is very disheartening to new grads, especially because you feel like you've let yourself down and I think Sim highlights that Just because you're all doesn't have dietitian. It doesn't mean you're not being a dietitian and I think that's a very very very very important to tell me grads because that's something you can really hold you back. If you think about it too much. Yeah, we also did mention in this conversation. I called that simmer it for the nutrition press which is actually don't think that she's nutrition presses the blob of the sorry that post is still up. I have will they're not they're not creating new content and night but yeah will link this post, but she talks about why we need to regulate the term. The nutritionist as if anyone who wants to do a bit of advocacy around that and feels they need to be better educated around speaking about that kind of thing check that out or if you're someone who's not a nutritionist or dietitian go and have a read just so that you know yourself. She's a very good writer seeing and we do talk a little bit about how she'd like to do a bit more. But yeah, she's busy. Yes, she is and as always we'll leave her contact details down below. So I think she's said she's Very happy to be message didn't give advice and she gives very good advice. Yeah can confirm so yes. Well, obviously leave that all that down below and links to any content that we talked about. Yeah, so we'll jump straight on into the conversation. This is our pantry party with Simone ugly. and I went to UNI with Liza and bran I currently work as a claims consultant at an insurance company in the city, which is Isn't really what I thought I would do but I'm really enjoying it now and I loved my course at Uni but as we'll probably talk about after there's a few things that probably were didn't really prepare me for what I'm doing at the moment. But yeah, I really enjoy nutrition writing. I've done a bit of that in the past and now I'm working more in a corporate setting which is really Good because I'm using my degree in a different way to probably the norm. Yes, and that's one of the things that we wanted to talk to you about because you're probably one of the only people that we know who is doing more corporate nutrition, and it wasn't really presented as an option for us. I'm graduating. So I think they'll be really interesting to hear a bit more about that. But before we do with all of our guests would like to do a quick get to know you fast five questions, which I totally haven't briefed you on and I probably can't remember but we really should be able to Win It. So we'll jump in with that question. Number one is what are your top? Five Pantry Staples? Okay top five or three three top the Staples. I'd probably say like rice / noodles as one of my staple carbs. Yeah, definitely. Oh good. I really thought about this so Carbs including income so I would have to probably separate them out because I do love cars. I sorry if you have more the rice noodle kind of carbs, but then also bread. I love bread. I always have great and then my third one is probably just veggies as well. Yeah carbs and veggies are probably the things that I try and base most of my meals around. Yes, that's probably it any particular veggies at the moment mushrooms. I've been so sick. Yeah, I've been mushrooming with my auntie here and there it's so cute. Yeah, so I mean I picked the mushrooms with my auntie's knowledge hoping they're okay and they have green. Yeah, but yeah mushrooms definitely definitely nice very nice-nice little mushroom. Pastas itch. Oh, yeah is heaps around around the view any Chomp. Mmm. Oh, yeah. Okay the second question. What is your favorite dish to bring to a party like a dinner? This is probably not so much like a dinner dish but like the cob loaf of bread and fill it with cheese like different cheeses and then you bake it with you can do like Ring onions bacon pretty much anything that's kind of savory. And then you just kind of like bake it and toast it a bit and then use the bread to dip into the cob loaf full of cheese is delicious. Yes. Yeah, but it seems coming to all of my babies were leading on from that question number three is what's your favorite party that you've attended or that you've like hosted? Oh my favorite party when I was a lot younger. So I was maybe 14 or something. I did this high tea party, which was amazing because the food was incredible and it was quite like intimate and we all got to dress up and I've always remembered that is like something I want to do again in the future and I guess the thing there's probably food as well. Okay made the party. Yeah. What is your favorite self care strategy at the moment mindfulness meditation probably so I've always kind of been into mindfulness and yoga especially when I was doing vce, but I guess with The Busy World that we live in it gets hard to have time for yourself. So the last two or three months I've been trying to do mindfulness every morning and I also go to the This meditation class once a fortnight. So that's kind of something for me. Yeah, do you find that you're able to do it when like on a busy train or do you have to like Setzer time aside for it? I'm trying to do it on the train it's hard, but that's when I have the most time to do especially in the morning because I'm traveling quite a fair distance to work and I'm getting better at it. But that's what I usually do. During the week when I'm going to work maybe at the end of the day. I'll do it for five minutes or something that I don't really have time before work like at home. Yeah, so it'll be the train. Yeah nice and last question is what are you currently in to? Oh, um, sorry, I guess again like it's hard because I'm working so much to like get into stuff, but I'm probably the same thing into the mindfulness at the moment. Like that's probably the thing. I'm trying to get into more. I've kind of fallen out of my routine of the gym and exercise a little bit, but I think that's just a bit of like an ebb and flow like that. We'll come back again. Yeah, I'm enjoying kind of just giving myself time to to relax in the morning. And in the evening that's good reading any books or listening to any podcasts or TV anything like that that your entertainment books. I've been reading a couple of books about the Holocaust which has been an eye opener and I've enjoyed that in terms of TV shows. I've been watching Wentworth, which I don't know if you have heard about it yet. It's on foxtel. It's really really good. I've been watching it since season one and it's season 8 now, I think for seven or something and otherwise that's that's probably the main things. I don't have a lot of time for TV, but you get home really late in the evening. Yeah, depends how early I get to work at like the earliest I'll get home as I 6:00 6:30, and I leave home at 6:15. It's a 12-hour day. On that night. Could you tell us a little bit about what you currently do for work and how you got there? So I work as a claims consultant. I in the final year of uni an email came through that said there's a competition going for it was a collaboration with Monash mlc and DeLuca. So mlc is a life insurance company. Uluka is like a life. If insurance board like that that kind of regulates insurance and holds conferences and I entered it because you could win two and a half thousand dollars. So and to be honest and you yeah, that's why I entered it. I mean I also thought oh, this is a good opportunity, but I think like most uni students money is a pretty good incentive. So I got chosen as a finalist for this competition. So what it involved Is he had to answer a question that was eight questions and I got given the question should highly fit individuals be charged at a lower premium rate for their insurance. So in other words, if you're really fit should you get an advantage and have to pay less for your insurance cover and I had to answer the question in front of maybe like 60 senior members of this insurance company as well as some on ash. Staff and a few other people. So it was it was pretty scary to be honest looking back and sorry just to kind of I remember at the time like you were so conflicted about what the right answer was as well. And I think like that would have been a really valuable learning experience of the way that you shaped your perspective of our industry and insurance and everything as well. Yeah. So in the end yeah with how I went in that question I kind of didn't really know how to answer it because firstly I didn't really understand what insurance was I was just winging it and I tried to you know do research I asked my dad and whatnot, but I didn't really take much of a stance on either side because there's just so many variables and you know, when you're presenting to Lee senior staff who worked in the insurance industry for like 30 plus years and I've just a student who doesn't even know what insurance is it was it was hard, but I really I guess I didn't actually win but it was an experience in that I made a lot of like networks and I got to know a lot of people in that industry so that that competition ended been uni ended and then yeah, I guess that really leads me to the world of the unknown of finding a job, you know. So I can tell you a bit about my journey to finding work and where I am now, so I finished uni after pretty much at the time of that competition actually and I was it was actually quite a hard time of my life to be honest because not only was four years just gone and now you had to find a full-time job, which everyone tells you is hard and it is hard. I'd broken up with my boyfriend of three years. So I was a a little bit lost I guess and I just had all these expectations that I would have a job within like a month or two. So by the new year, so I was looking for work and I was applying for clinical roles, even though deep down. I kind of knew I didn't really want to work clinically, but I think there's this expectation that you do a dietetics course, which is Known traditionally has like a course that leads you into a dietitian role which everyone sees has private practice or Hospital work that yeah, so you end up as a clinical dietitian. So I started applying for those roles. I got a few interviews, but I guess my passion probably didn't really show in my interviews and and it is competitive and it is hard to get work. I got an internship with nutrition Australia, which was a Actually a really valuable learning experience. So that was 12 weeks. I worked with the healthy eating advisory service and I just really it was more of an admin role I guess but it was you learned a lot about what they do and it kind of opened up my doors a bit more into possibly like a public health path, but I still wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. So. I did this internship alongside a little bit of casual research work at Monash which involved Research into health education not specifically nutrition and I was just helping a PhD student go through hundreds of Articles pretty much to see if they were included or excluded into her study and I liked research so I actually really didn't mind doing that. It was quite Interesting, but I just knew that that I didn't even know what I wanted to do if that makes sense. So I went to Europe because I thought that was so much so I went to Europe in June last year for six weeks and then I came back and I kind of had a bit of a fresh head and I thought you know what? I think I want to explore different Avenues to the traditional career paths than that. I was kind of forcing a Myself, so I reached out to some of the people that I met at this mlc night where I presented my topic on Fitness and highly fit people and I made contact with one of the girls there and pretty much I just sent her a message saying hey, I don't know if you remember me, but I'm super-interested to just hear about how you got to where you are now. Now so she was leading a team of Consultants at at mlc. And so she said to me look I'll give you a call so she called me and she talked to me about how she got to her role. So she actually did the exact course that I did five years earlier than me. So it was really good to hear about how she got to where she got to because she literally knows exactly what kind of footsteps that I went through as well. And then I found out there was jobs going and I applied for one and I had my interview and I got the job. I really didn't know what I was getting into though. And so I was a little bit a bit scared. I guess everyone's little bit nervous going to the first full-time job and I started in a team of assessing claims for critical illness terminal illness and death so very very full on. Yeah. So, um, I guess my role started with having to look at all these claims and make sure they meet the policy terms and conditions. So I guess you might be thinking like how like how is that related to what I did at University, but there's a lot of transferable skills, and that's all. Clinical judgment. Yeah. Yeah. We use a lot of that which was so drilled into us through a lot placements that you've got to be able to use it for me before I hope prioritization and those critical thinking skills. Yeah, we got I guess so so, yeah, you're right in that I think that big skills of real your clinical judgment your patient centered care skills because you're dealing with people especially for critical illness and terminal illness people that are really unwell and essentially an inch. Insurance company is providing support for someone during their time of need. So it was someone that a critical illness is like a cancer might like mnd all those really serious illnesses that are potentially life-threatening but you necessarily haven't been told you're going to pass away in less than 12 months. So they're just so serious conditions that will affect you quite severely Whereas terminal illness is your doctors told you you've got less than 12 months to live. So that's the really hard claims to assess and I did that for six months. And I knew that when I did it, it's not what I wanted to keep doing because although it's very rewarding when you're talking to people and you're talking to doctors and you know that you can pay out their claim and it will change their life it was I've really really difficult to talk to these people who are get really really sick and obviously like having a really tough time. So a job went well, actually I got approached by another team because I was doing quite well in my job, which was surprising this kind of thought. I would not surprising at all and that it was a promotion and they said we have a roll going in the income Protection Team which So income protection is essentially if you were sick or injured and you can't work, we will pay you 75 percent of income until you can work again. Yeah, depending on your policy. Like there's obviously a few conditions if your policies are only two two-year benefits will only pay up to two years age 65 will pay yet until you're 65. So all income protection is a lot more involved in that you don't just assess your claim. Yes, you have cancer. No, you don't have cancer. Get paid you don't get paid income protection is okay. This person can't work because they've broken their leg or because they have cancer or anything really why can't they work you have to assess functional capacity and we have a team of rehab Specialists that work with us to get them back to work. So this really interested me because I kind of saw this as a lot more relatable to my my degree because you have a portfolio of of your clients that you're following up. Lee and you're actively using your Allied Health background to get them back to work so I'm in that role now, I got the job in March and yeah, I've finished all my training at the end of May so I look after maybe the moment like for 30-40 claims and they range from 25 year old men with injuries to You like it 60 year old women with cancer like it can be anything and it's really enjoyable. I'm really liking it and I'm feel like it's probably a really important area for Allied Health and and people with medical backgrounds to work it because essentially you're working to get people back to work and to recover so why wouldn't you want people that have a health background too? To do that for your company. So the insurance industry is actually moving more towards Allied Health specifically physiotherapists OTS Nutrition a little bit. Probably not as big the awareness probably isn't there as much about what we learn but yeah in general Allied Health people and of of that background to really assist in people getting back to work and recovering, yeah. I guess just to backtrack a little bit is that's quite I guess a specific role in a way backtracking to when you first started died headaches, I guess what was your picture of what you thought you'd be doing and or was there a picture or you just sort of like I'm just going to do it and see what happens? Yeah, when I first started the course in all honesty. I thought I'd be working in a hospital at the end of it or in To Private Practice. Yeah, which I think is typical of a lot of people starting the course. Yeah, and I guess as I went along I realized especially when I did clinical placements that I just felt like I had so much more to give and in a way you're quite restricted in your clinical placements and and in your clinical role as a dietitian, but also I just didn't have that passion to to do a clinical A nickel dietetic job. And I guess that's that's for multiple reasons, but I just enjoyed other parts of the course more and other options more and now I'm in a completely different role using my degree in a different way and I'm really liking it. Yeah, that sounds like those core skills are still there like in terms of that hospital and knowledge, but just get like you say translating it differently really interesting. Yeah, and I think like you're almost taking the parks that you Thrived in in the course and using those bits. Whereas I think in a clinical nutrition role, you're not necessarily going to use all of the skills that were equipped with like, you know course as we spoke with Claire about there's a strong focus on like public health and health promotion and more preventative health and looking at you know, social determinants of health and like the bigger picture and that's really nice that you've been able to like actually use some of that in your in your role. Whereas like in clinical like a cute clinical nutrition. You're not really looking at the Patients brought a circumstances. Yeah, and I think as well like and this probably is outside of just my role but in this industry in general and the need for Allied Health and medical professionals is that not just in claims, is it important but in like you're saying in underwriting so underwriting these when you take out a policy at the very beginning they ask you questions about your health, and then they really assess the School varsity ensuring you. So if you've got like you've had a cancer in the past that probably going to put an explosion on cancer and things like that. But at the same time they're starting initiatives and they're doing research on how they can kind of help The Wider community in a preventative way. Some of it is probably not not like in my opinion probably not the greatest preventative approach, but I think there's a lot of potential for for ourselves like a big company and and the industry to really really take part in that preventive research because essentially it would be not only important for the health of Australians but for out for the business because the more claims we have some more people are paying out and you know at the end of the day, yes, we are helping people get back to work because you know, we that's our genuine role, but it is Business as well and we obviously can't we don't want to be paying for ever and ever and ever. So yeah, there's a lot of potential for health professionals to work in that space as well to really look at. Okay, how can we reduce the risk of these people getting on claim? And that's like you're saying Liza it's preventative stuff. And it's yeah, it's really looking into ways that we can do that. Yeah. I think it's yeah, it's it kind of brings in more of the Lesser used conventional use parts of our degree, which is really nice. Do you want to talk a little bit about how you need prepared you for this role and how maybe it didn't? Yeah, any didn't really prepare me. Well, I think you need and it's probably something that you've explored with with other people that you've talked to but you need it has a very strong focus on the traditional dietetic pathway, which is Sleep clinical a little bit of Public Health, but it doesn't really give you much of an opportunity to explore other ways. You can use your degree. So in all honesty, if I didn't do that that competition I probably wouldn't have had any idea that that this was a different pathway for me to to look further into and to eventually, you know, start my career in so I guess with With that being said it's it kind of opened my eyes and when people ask me when their students not just in the dietetic courses, but in other health courses as well is to really like look beyond what you're being taught because yes, you know if you study nutrition or if you study OT like you think you're going to get to a hospital role or to a rehab role, but actually there's so many other opportunities and other ways you can use your core. And and use your degree and one of those ways is in like a corporate setting because health is like health is important for the economy. And I mean, we didn't learn anything it really at Uni about the economy finance that I've learned to better in my in my job. So and I mean it's kind of common sense as well like the more people that are off work, for example, the economy is going to be affected in a in a big Big way, so when you think of insurance specifically income protection insurance, which is huge. That's the most like that's the big part of the life insurance industry and you think of that like there's a huge huge potential in a huge role for us to make an impact not only towards the like the health kind of system, but the economy as well and that essentially bounces off each other like if you've got a healthy economy, you probably going to have a better health system as well and Probably goes beyond it my my head and my expertise but yeah, it just rounds out everything as well. So yeah, I think it's a huge potential to look into other ways to use your degree and I'm sure there's ways now that we don't even know that that you know, our nutrition degree can can help us to get a job in who knows other other career pathways. Other Industries, I guess it's just all about exploring and networking getting to know people getting to like asking lots of questions and advocating for your degree. Yeah, and I think that's one of the unique aspects of a nutrition degree compared to for example, a physio or even you know, just like jet. Yeah and there's no General method. Is that where you know, of course in particular I hadn't really can't speak for people who didn't study much but like we're taught to look at the bigger picture, but then Not taught of how to implement like Implement that in our work and I think that's a real floor of the course because they're seeing that that's so important but not teaching us how to use it. And I think that's like, you know, it's a big issue but I don't know how we address that. Yeah, and I think as well, I don't know if you guys recall, but I know that there was really only one lecture maybe a one tutorial that talked about entrepreneurship and like Exploring other ways to use your degree, but at the same time it was it was just touching on the bare minimum and novel like it wasn't. Yes like yes, it's an idea of it. None of you are actually going to do it. So yeah. Yes just taking a box and I think it was a lot about like your own business as well which like in realistic terms. It's very difficult to start your own business straight out of uni, especially if you just like if you're young and you you've just come out of school like you don't have the money to start your own business. Guys, I need that's what you need. So I think it's important not only to look at that side of things and entrepreneur kind of side of things to start new work and your businesses because that's just not realistic for some new graduates, but also to look at Ya different different Industries different career Pathways, which I don't even think we did it all. No, not at all and I think like we talked a little bit to Claire about this as well in that she was saying you know, we're equipped for so much more than what we're sort of sent into this and she was talking about the just as an example the implications of like a dietitian being employed in a big corporate firm like as a dietician so they could do menu development and they could do the catering policies and they could also do one-on-one like nutrition out there like that one person can have such an impact in that company, but that's not even a thought that crosses our minds because we're not really taught to think outside the Box of conventional clinical nutrition and even like private practice and stuff are not really taught how to do that. And it really taught how to do Public Health about the risks of Yeah. Well, yeah, I was like four hours is basically like just make sure you're in shoot yourself and like yeah, you know anything about rents and overheads and its really big investment. So don't think about doing until your further degree of hard essentially and yeah. Yeah, the flip of that is that so many people have had to go into private practice because that's always thought. It's like clinical or private practice public. Health maybe and that's it. Hmm. So it's yeah not very inspiring and not very like you say, it doesn't teach you to think outside the box, you know, and I think that's one of the main pieces of feedback that I personally have got when I mentioned this podcast is that people are like, oh that's really good that you're talking about this because no one does and like even though we're all aware of it in the back of our minds going through our course, we're not talking about it. We're not finding solutions to it. So I think it's really nice that you've been able to kind of like take a step back. Go, okay. I'm not not that you're not cut out. But like that's not what you're passionate about doing that conventional role. How can I have a bigger impact and how can I use this information these skills that I've got in a more effective way. Yeah, and I think it's interesting as well because it's hard like it is hard to do that and it is hard then people ask you. Oh, what are you doing and you explained it to you? Tell them I'm working in insurance and they just I've had people say They are so so you're not using a degree no dietitian. And that's all. No, I'm not essentially my role isn't a dietitian but I am using my degree and you know without the the course that I did I wouldn't be able to do the job that I'm doing and I wouldn't be able to use the skills that I've learned and I think that's really hard to to not only step back and look at okay. This is like maybe a different pathway that I could use my degree but to also kind of this stigma and this View that you haven't become a dietitian when your degree and actually be able to stand up for yourself of it. I found that really hard like a lot probably more people than not say to me, you know, not directly you've wasted your degree, but they give me that intention that I will then why you know, you could have done this without nutrition when it's not the case at all. And I guess that's not really anyone's fault. It's just The fact that we do need to there's multiple things but at Uni we need to explore new career Pathways. We need to advocate for our skills as dietitians and probably in the broader Allied Health industry as well. I'm sure there's other professions that you know, similar kind of things. Although nutrition is a difficult profession to working because everyone is involved in it and thinks they're an expert. But yeah, it's an it's a number of things really that I think make people think you need to do this with your degree. And if you don't then you've wasted it which is not the case at all. Yeah. Yeah, as we were saying before comparatively you're using a lot more of your degree that in some clinical dietitians would and I think like the way that the you set us up and the way that we sort of perceive our industry is that I mean, I definitely don't now but like going through your degree, you see that clinical position as the gold standard and that's it. That's where all the that's the goal job to get and I think like I personally didn't even bother applying for any cuz I knew it's what not what I wanted to do and that was a huge decision for me because I was having to go. Okay like this is what I've been primed to do and having to make that conscious decision to stray away from that almost seems like I'm not, you know, I'm not being successful and you're not using your degree. Yeah, it'll convert sort of feels like we're like yet is a lot to Grapple with when you've just finished uni, you just come out of this environment. Of everything's planned for you and you're thrown into this world. Like you say where you just there's so much unknown and yes to be able to Grapple with the fact that okay. I'm also not going to get the job that I have the title for is really mentally taxi and very exhausting to work through. Yeah. No, I think it sounds really weird. But how did you come to that conclusion like obviously went to Europe but he took six months off and that kind of thing. How did you come to the conclusion that you're like, you know what? No, I'm not. Going to go down that conventional path was like a lightbulb moment or was it just more accumulation of things and what were those things? I think yeah. I I'm glad I had a little break and went away because it's hard and I'm sure a lot of people can relate like finding work and all your friends are getting work and you're not it's really hard to to like be okay with that. So I went away I came back. And I think it was more just I kind of had this interest like this very small interest in the back of my mind of like business finance corporate world as well, which is something that when I was at school, I've considered as a career pathway, but my interest in nutrition was was Stronger, so when I came back, I just kind of thought okay. I really want to find work by the end of the year. I don't want to just keep doing that gluto jobs here and there but at the same time I can't be too harsh on myself because you just could never be without you. No, it's not obviously good for you to do that. So I think I was just playing around on my phone. Actually. I'm LinkedIn and I saw her name's Fiona who works at mlc and I just like saw her profile and it was just like that moment where I'm like, you know what I'm going to ask her like how she's gotten to where she's gotten to and how she thinks that her degree has, you know, helped her and shape during to who she is now and the role she's doing now, so I did that and I guess yeah, it wasn't necessarily like this moment of I don't want to become the traditional dietitian. I don't want to do research anymore. It was just me being inquisitive and yeah thinking of other options because at the same time the I found out I got the job. I was actually at Monash doing a research job and I just started it was a day. I saw this research job and it was casual and it was like only for like three weeks or something. And so I actually I found out and I was obviously so excited and then I called my parents and I told them and then I was still on campus and they said okay. Well, what are you gonna do with this other job? Like you can't you can't do both obviously and then I called I actually I actually went back into the office and I said really sorry. I've got full time work and they knew I was looking for work. So it was completely fine. I considered doing the research work on the weekend but a lot. Yeah, especially burning like a completely new new job starting full-time hours and things. So yeah, it was just something that kind of rolled like the ball kind of rolled in it. Ya got me there. Yeah, and now I really enjoy it. It's hard sometimes dancing. Yeah, go away doing it because I feel like traditionally they brought the goes into the course has a very knocked out idea of what's going to happen. Yeah, this is our I'm going to end up and it's just nice that you sort of use that really lame but you used initiative. You've used the network you sat back and gone. Hang on. There's so much other stuff that I can explore and I don't think many people have those moments. They get really tunnel-visioned. Yeah, and I think like it's all about being true to to yourself. So like like I said before people expect I think people kind of expect things from you or they say, okay. Well, you know a equals B, you did nutrition you become a dietitian and you just need to as hard as it is yet. Be true to yourself from realize. Okay. I don't want to do this. Like I went for a job actually like two months before or just after Europe so a month and a half before I started the job. I mean now And the job was very very much like a weight loss kind of dietetic role and I only applied for it because I wanted a job and I did not want that job. I just wanted a job and I it completely reflected I think in my job interview and I look back now and I obviously didn't get it and I'm really glad I didn't get it because it's not at all. What I would have wanted to do and that was yeah me not being true to myself and Thank you. Don't want to force yourself into something you don't want to do but at the same time like there are ways you can use what you have and the skills you have to do. Yeah things outside the norm that that maybe suit you better. So yeah, and I think that kind of says something about our broader industry as well in that like there's such a scarcity of jobs that we're all kind of just that grappling at whatever we can get but none of those jobs are actually going to be Innovative in improving our industry and In improving the health of our population, whereas like something like what you're doing now actually does support people to get back on their feet and you know, improve their health and therefore improve the populations health and saying I think goes for a lot of Private Practice in a lot of Public Health work, whereas like, we're not really taught to push the boundaries of our industry and of our profession as dietitians, we're kind of just taught to you know, you go on you do this job and then you stay there and you it's kind of like you're churning out. Patience, but you're not actually improving any ones Hells? Yeah. So I think like it's good that we can recognize that as a floor and I industry and work to improve that. Yeah, and I think like this and Ayala. I don't know what the answer is but like there is like a need to chew like advocate for our our skills. And I guess yeah, it's lots of ways there's lots of ways that we can do that and it's maybe it's just little things like get exploring new career. Our paths doing podcasts writing, you know articles blogs. But yeah, I think there needs to be like a higher level kind of discussion as well. And I don't know how well you know what that looks like, but I think it would be really interesting to somehow get some sort of movement going at a bigger level even if that's more like a regulatory level. I don't know just to to Really open people's eyes as well, too. What we do because I don't know if you guys have experienced this as well. But even when you see people ask you what you did and you say nutrition and they so I did nutrition to and they did like a two-day course. Yeah, and it's just a bit like they clearly don't understand what we've learned and and that isn't like a dig at that person. I think it's like a society thing as well that it's hard. It's every like you say Everyone's an expert in nutrition. - yeah, totally professional everyone sort of has there's no regulatory well-known regulatory guidelines, I think and I think sometimes going to sidestep a little bit from Korea stuff because that rings a bell about a piece that you wrote for gonna say nutrition pretzels a couple of years ago. And I remember hearing that I got so many hits because you had a really good breakdown of what there is that it did you read all the different stuff. I think that also was going to ask you mentioned before that. You do like Health writing. Is that a space that you would consider pursuing so I know we've had chats about that space and how a lot in a lot of major Publications. It's not people who are equipped with health knowledge necessarily writing those arguments or Ryan those pieces. Is that something that you would think about possibly going into a ER yeah, I mean I well you both know what I was like at Uni. I love riding. I love talking about nutrition and advocating for different. Yeah, different skills and different even just your nutrition knowledge in general and I have thought about it a lot and I think into up until now and I think moving forward definitely up until now it's been quite hard because Things are new in my role trying to learn not only the health side of my new job. But there's also a financial aspect of my job, which I've had to learn a lot about like accounting and tax and things that I've never really thought about before so I think now moving forward I would really like to engage more in yeah like nutrition writing again, and it was something that I did in the past and I loved and I do actually completely Got about that. It's something that I like honestly still refer to people for fail if they like so why people just so whilst with the whole dietitian versus nutritionist and my gears a little link of someone that I wrote this piece that really clearly broke down what the issues are and I don't think anyone's actually done that. Yeah. So because that that was actually pretty successful not to like sound no. No. Yeah. I think I've got like 40,000 hits which was crazy. They told me. Because I did this volunteer writing at the nutrition press in Turkey uni, and maybe even into fourth year actually and yeah, it was all about the role of a nutritionist the role of a dietitian and how we need to advocate for both. But also how we need to advocate for us to be regulated better. So from memory it was also to do with Accra which regulate a lot of other Allied Health Professions or not us. Us and I kind of posed a diff Yeah a different Viewpoint to how we're currently regulated, which I think got a lot of conversation going and yeah, I had a lot of responses. I have people messaging me being like, you know, should we take this further at this step stage? I know I should have at that stage. I was I think doing exams and it was like the third your exam was no. Thanks. Bye. You can take this I'm gonna go and finish my stuff. So yeah, so the The Da a they actually I think they were asking me about something else. They won't messaging me about something else and I sent them this article being like look at what I've written. Look at how many people have viewed this and commented on this and it was just an idea like it was not by all means any sort of like stance against the DEA. AAA it was it was more just a sense of we need to Advocate stronger at your level and they had you know, they are probably the starting point potentially to do that. So it never got published. I don't know what happened but that was a little bit of a shame because I was like really ready to to like take it to the next level and I think you know, it's something in the future that I would like to look at again. Yeah, but yeah even just Trish in writing in general I've written about nutrients and different foods and like berries. So it was really fun. I enjoy that and I think I also write about public health like regulation of food advertising on TV, and I honestly, I can't even remember what I wrote In detail about but I had a few articles which yeah, I enjoyed writing. So it's definitely something I'd probably think about the future. Yeah on the note of chatting about daa. We as dietitians are regulated by them. We basically put a link to the article that gives us the title of a kind of accredited practicing dietitian in Australia. Soon because your role isn't as a dietitian. Do you want to tell us a bit about your kind of Journey with that? Yeah. So I when I finished my degree obviously signed up for the day and I signed up to be an accredited practicing dietitian or APD did some or did my continued professional development hours. So my CPD hours and then I kind of at the end of the I sat down and thought to myself this is so much money. Do I need this? And actually I'll just backtrack a little bit last year. I actually presented at the DIA conference. So I presented this research to do with fruit and vegetable intake across Victoria and fruit vegetable availability and it really looked at different parts of Victoria. Like how available was fresh fruit and veg. Anyway, I presented that research at the conference in Sydney, which was really rewarding but then I got to the end of the year and was a bit like what what do I need this for? And so I decided not to renew it, which I'm still a little bit questioning about whether I should have done that or not, but I don't need it for what I'm doing now, and I don't see myself getting out of the industry that I'm in now for some time. Yeah, I think that it's probably something that is important for some dietitians to have but yeah, I really get I guess it you know what you have to think about if it's worth it or not. Apd's needed for Medicare. I think so she doing practice you need to have it but it's not needed for my role because I'm not practicing as a dietitian as such so yeah, I think like for me I mean I've I'm in a paycheck because I need it for Medicare so that my patients can claim on their private health insurance a portion of my fees, but honestly, I don't know if I would if I didn't need it for that like I think and I think that's a floor of not just a PD like I don't that of day. I don't think that's their fault. But of the Health Care system of the way, it's regulated in that we're only recognized as a dietician if we're doing a clinical job. Yeah, and so I think that's kind of I don't know how we address. I think that's even way above that's you know, that's like a Medicare thing or a but it's such a big thing that I think needs to be addressed because it kind of takes credibility away from people like yourself who aren't clinically practicing but you're still being a dietitian has helped you where you are and it's interesting that I think it's a fairly unique problem to our Industries and my dad's a technical engineer for example, and he's part of the engineering But he still gets some benefits and whether that's like Financial stuff he has enough to as much they feeding in that kind of thing, but he still thinks it's relevant to his job. Even though he's really far from where he was 20 years ago and he still maintained that the whole way through. So I think it's a problem that we need to address. There's a dietitian thing that like you say in needs to be an all-encompassing thing where the benefits are for. Everyone is working in Insurance in research. In practice and clinical whatever it is. That's a full of yeah, the system like you say and then we need to address that and think about how it's actually going to be beneficial for. Yeah, and it's again same thing without degrees. It's because that body is designed for the people that the job is expected to be so it's designed for clinical dietitians, but our industry is growing we need to be able to support everyone in ER because if suddenly we all run out like there's no more jobs in trician at all. What's going to happen if we're going to stop doing nutrition degrees or are they going to have to be Innovative and find a new way to work? Yeah, and I think if the da and Opera as well can learn how to support people regardless of their path that they're going down that's going to give us a more effective and more credible industry and that's going to therefore get better health outcomes for a population and also just a better like understanding of what we do. Yeah is that it's like that thing is that What if your insurance now people like a casino did not petition and it's like well, no, I can still be accredited and working dietetics and it's almost like I was talking about this with someone yesterday but a specialty like we need to sort of understand that all dietitians do all dietitians and nutritionists do things and that if we can create our professional support in a way that supports that supports those varying career paths and that all just being more beneficial for the general public understanding what we can do. Do and also more beneficial for the economy or whatever industry you're working in. Yeah. I think I think there just needs to be like a big movement of like evolving of of nutrition and dietetics in multiple ways. So yes like the da a and Opera and those regulatory bodies, you know, it's all about your dietitian. Here is a clinical job. Yeah, like a job description and he's joke going and that's all I advertised on the job part of the website and then you know uni, it's just the direction is clinical and a little bit of Public Health kind of / research and like you said Liza where what happens and what's happening. Now what happens when there's all these graduates and there's nowhere to go and then we're not equipped really to look at other ways to you soon. Degree, and I guess I'm I don't know. I'm lucky in a sense because I kind of fell into but also started exploring other career Pathways and now I'm in the job that I'm in but yeah, like how not everyone's like that. Yeah, and people need that support and you know, you pay you pay a lot of money to go to UNI and to learn to do great to then not have any job kind of there for you. Like I remember when we Shout out degree. It was like four nights specific graduate dietetics jobs in Victoria or something and it's probably the same yet. It's crazy. There's four and there's like so many universities now, I think I heard that my not of course. Yeah. There's another course coming from another University if it hasn't already started. I'm not sure so it just seems crazy that you can't keep teaching these people the same things like we need we need to revamp it all I think like, Yeah that we want some great stuff. Don't get me wrong. But we need to revamp the course significantly to produce graduates that can actually be equipped to find work that is maybe not necessarily the traditional pathway, but I think like as well we are equipping graduates with those with the skills that give them translate ability. Yes are the industries which is not telling them they can do it. Yeah, but I'm saying I'll go and look for jobs in this industry or that industry and you know, you can have an impact here because I think like we're all aware that there's other things that we can do, but we're not really told how to do it. Yeah, there we go, and like where we've learned like how to learn what we actually needed to do to get there and I think it comes back to that. It's clinical or other like yeah. Oh, yeah ever think it's like clinical and public health and ever waited the same. It's sort of like, yeah all these people in this idea in their head. I think of this idea of all these clinical roles which are right this before. Oh, yeah, and then everything else is just sort of like they lie scattered across various different Industries, which is that's where the bulk of people are going to go. Oh, yeah, like you said is me for grab positions which are revolving doors. Anyway, not guaranteed a spot after that where you going to end up after that it's going to be private practice is going to be insurance. Is it being able to explore those options and seeing it as more of a valid career option which is a dangerous word. But yeah, and the how I think you're right. It's like we do have all these great skills. And I think it's important that we that new graduates know how to use these skills and kind of back themselves up a bit in that. Yeah, you actually have one it so much and you can use all of the knowledge that you've learned in a different way to what what you might think you have to do. Yeah, so and that's that's even like it is even jobs going, you know in like that. Not just the Department of Health but there's government jobs. There's I know I was talking to a friend who's finishing her final year of Law and there's even jobs at big companies. I think makeup companies and stuff like L'Oreal for example that have graduate jobs and they invite anyone from any any background and any course and yeah, we've got heaps of skills to advocate for four different roles. And you know, we learn a lot about problem solving and critical King and we get exposure to to dealing with people with all passionate say dealing with people but treating people who have really in the worst time of their life and like where there's obviously other health courses that can compare to that but you know how there's courses that can't compare to that and that's huge those the knowledge of being able to to treat people and to even just consult with people all that are going through such a tough time, like other degrees don't have that and we have that and we have the problem solving skills to to kind of yeah deal with that and to be able to help people. Do you think it would almost be worth saying our last semester having just a subject that goes take a step back forget about all your clinical stuff even though you just come off clinical placement and looking at the Frameworks of what we've studied so like that problem-solving like that critical thinking and then Being able to almost brainstorm or understand what we can use that for. Yeah, I think that would be good too. And it would be good in the last year of uni to be able to kind of tie it all up. Yeah, and I mean how I don't know you'd have to go to like uni boards and presenting ideas and it would it would make for example say if this was something we presented to Monash like it would make Monash stand out as a course and I feel like it would be a huge opportunity to look at okay. Okay, we do this kind of unit. It doesn't have to be like super intense. It's probably a good unit to kind of end on it that it would be almost a bit refreshing to be able to step away from the intense clinical knowledge that we learn and yeah to just be able to explore and almost use it as like a brainstorming like tutorials and whatnot. And that would make that degree. I think stand out a lot and you'd say yeah and you graduates leaving and hopefully with with the how the equipping them on how to do or use their skills. You could see different Avenues of people starting new jobs in different. Yeah career paths and I think the reason that there isn't that at the moment is that those jobs don't exist yet and we need to learn how to be Innovative in our actual thinking about the industry and about our approach to it so that we create jobs so that we can then go back and educate people, you know, like we did have a course at the end of our degrees which we talked about with Clare that did try and equip us for graduation, but I don't think it really captures the way that we need like we need to like hustle like we have to drive passion to where it's going to be impactful and like it just I don't know how we get there. We'll just even just reflecting back on that unit. Anyway, I felt like it was very Basic, this is a raising. Yeah, this is how you tell you a cover letter. Yeah, but it was still technically trishul and that's that but the thing it's the they would even all the questions that people had were that they were tailored towards a hospital job because I like I need something with nutrition in the title, which is not my role didn't have nutrition the toilet only yours. Did yours probably definitely do so being able to teach people how to search for jobs and look at that application criteria. I tear up like say we did have that subject or we take a step back and go. Okay. So like for me it was a looking at quality improvement and being like I've done that that was our entire Food Service placement. I've got that framework. I've worked and I that understanding and applying it to something that is not nutrition-related whatsoever. And I don't think not saying I'm called standard but I think people think like that like everyone just searches nutrition dietitian food. Yeah, that's pretty much it. I agree. I think that would be a good aspect of like if this was a I mean it how some of it would be looking at. Okay. Yeah how to find work that isn't dietitian nutrition blah blah blah typical work. And then also how to hustle and advocate for those jobs. I think there is a lot of jobs and don't really exist but with a strong movement, I think in a lot of advocating definitely are important and essential and in the future can exist and yeah like Out how we go about that. So I think it would be good to like, yeah, like Mary those true that two ideas together and create. Yeah some sort of final unit that really explores more than just Hospital write your resume. Here it is. I think it rejected the core of it. It's about empowering people to seek that change and to actually like when you graduate you need like for the like us you finish this degree and you've got so many skills and your as a person much more, you know, well equipped to do so many things and but I think we belittle ourselves into like applying for certain jobs. And then we take that rejection really personally when it's just like it's just because it's We don't get these things and I think if we can learn to like, all right. Well, I've got all these great skills that I can use now. Where can I use them? How can I you know have the positive changes? I want to see in the world and I think that's where our like just personally that's where I feel like my course fell short in that. It didn't really Empower me to make a change and I wanted to see it kind of went you need to fit into this box. Well, you've needed gone sort yourself out pictures of I hope that doesn't reflect on much badly. Cuz I don't it was a great course I loved it. But I think like it's just it didn't wrap everything up. Yes, we and I think that's again. I don't think it's just this effect to our course. I know a lot of courses in general a lot of people that go through the university system and I have a friend who's working. She went through uni, and now she's working in bouquet avocational like a squirrel which deal with like a lot of Tafe courses and stuff and she's like, that's the main difference is that Exactly. They're ready for you to work. Whereas universities they give you that up higher level thinking but you're not taught how to practically do it a lot of the time and that really falls short of the end of so many courses because then you're left going I have this title, but I don't have a job to match to it. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's tough and finding work is tough and I guess it's yeah, it's something that like you're both saying as well like you can't let it do can't take it personally because I think yeah we have this great course that equips up equips us for a lot of different jobs. So if you were getting rejected, it's not like a reflection on you. It's more that it's just so Competitive and I found that tune. I mean all of us here were pretty good at Uni and we did really well what you mean. So it's hard and I think people have expectations like even even some other students and some of the lectures, you know, they say, oh, you know, you won that prize you'll be fine like you you're going to be so good when you finish uni, and then you finish uni and you're like, yeah it almost encouraged. Has a complacency in your degree, but I think like what we need to be taught is how to advocate for ourselves how to you know, bring ourselves up to the level that we're ready to go and do whatever we want to do and I think like honestly, I don't know if it's a floor in our courses. I don't know if it's the Unis responsibility to equip us for that. But I think it's something that needs to be changed in the industry and in our culture so that we are like feeling like we can go out and use our degree but that's not our defining characteristic as a person that's you know, a part of What we've learned but we can still go and use that to do what we want to do. I think it's this is a very big sleeping state of I think it's a societal shift exactly. Well because I know where my parents went through you and their idea of uni is that you finish uni, like you say, it's like a plus b equals c like yeah study something you've got a title and that means you go into a career. Yeah little bit the changing nature of the workforce in the moment and having there's so many contributing factors like female empowerment and like people being able to do multi - it sort of things is changing the face of that and I think we're in a very strange societal shift where we need to be taught to work with that and I guess that yeah, which is a very hard thing to to think about that is hard and like it even just Springs to mind like a few of my friends who again, they're not in nutrition one of them a different friend. He's in his final year of Law and it's a bit like he doesn't really want to become a lawyer now. And I think it's correct me if I'm wrong if you guys know but at the end of your water grade, you like a test and then yeah and then like you do some other train. Yeah. Anyways, please correct us. Yeah, we don't know your industry like yeah, you've got it. You've got to continue the process yet to this goal. But and he's a bit like, I don't know if I want to do that. I'll probably use my law degree in like the finance corporate Commerce World, which is is a literal like thing. You can do that like my dad works. In finance, and he has heaps of colleagues who have law degrees, but they're not lawyers now, but then, you know the typical like your parents know you did law. You become a lawyer and it's a society thing to me and even even when I talk to people and they are like oh but you did dietetics and you know dietitian and it's hard. It's actually really hard at times to explain to people and to actually have like faith in yourself that and not doubt yourself. I've I mean, I've seen at times doubted myself and Is this the right thing to do people think I should have done this? Maybe I should have and yeah, it's again. It's when you step back and look at it like that. It's like well, it's stupid because you can't just be thinking that I'm going to be a certain title for the rest of my life. That's I know that's not how jobs work anymore. Everything's contractual now as well. We're not in permanent positions for ya and you can I mean you can change whenever you want like this if in six months time, Time I don't want to do this anymore. I'll like it same with with both of you Finn, you know next week or something. You don't want to do it. There's so many opportunities. It's just it's like you said last it's like the how it's using a degree in different ways. It's how do you do that? And yeah, like out of the box thinking but yeah, I don't think you should think you do this degree. It means you become this and that is what you are for life because maybe you will become that for a year or two and then you will completely change to get a Job, it's 12 months. Then what those kind of things? Yeah, and I think that's what the not just the Unis bit like our society isn't thinking about well enough. Is that that then what yeah, what's happening next? What's happening after we get sick of that and move on to the next thing because as Millennials, that's what we do. Like we need to think about the bigger picture of both our individual lives and of the way that we can have an impact in our industry and in the world because like The system isn't supporting us and so we need to change the system. Yes. So yeah, I think if we can somehow Empower people to learn that for themselves, that's a great starting point and that can then hopefully inflict change in society and in the degrees and in the da a and there are pros and you know and everything can kind of be more accommodating to support everyone because I think that's where it comes down to is that lack of support for people who do want. Do something different. Yeah need to yeah, just wanted to actually have to yeah, this is out. We ask this question to everyone on the podcast and it's kind of diverted a lot from what we've actually talked about and that's okay. What does food mean to you? Nothing to do with insurance. Yeah, it's not really I guess food from from when I was about or 14 15. I kind of began thinking about nutrition as a career and there were a few reasons for that. I was really interested in like the power of food and the fact that like food is Is so much more than just the sum of its nutrients like its it brings people together and in so many different ways whether it be like social kind of gatherings birthdays Christmas, but also cooking with your mom or if that's something you do brings kind of families together. So I was really interested in food and really interested in science. So without the focus on science, I guess food to me. He is something that I value in the sense that it is a social thing. So even like I was saying when you asked me what was like a party that you recall as one of the best or whatever the wording was and and it was their high tea party when I was 14 because it was just so enjoyable to be with friends and to enjoy like these delicious Little Sweets and foods and then You know now I'm 23 and I have had birth a sense where my mom and I have cooked up all of this food and I've invited all my girlfriends around and we've celebrated in that way. So it's hard because you see people Advocate to cut food groups and it just makes no sense to me because food is so much more than the sum of its nutrients and I guess that's really my philosophy of from the beginning or really from when I was about yeah, 1415 and throughout my schooling and uni, I was never the type to be dieting and that wasn't why I did nutrition and I kind of had this fascination with food. It was more of food as this social thing with the acknowledgement that food is also obviously quite important in terms of our health, but not just for A nutritional reasons. So yeah, I mean food is a very important thing to me because it brings everyone together and I'm a bit of a foodie. I enjoy going out for breakfast and and I was like, yeah dumb. Yeah nice and that's the like we don't have to put these damn it. That's the exact answer that we've gotten from every single person that's been on the podcast. Yeah and I think that just really shows that this industry were working in this area is so much more important than we give it credit to and I think as you mentioned the whole like restriction died in stuff, like that's a whole lot about just bring it back and cut it down and it takes away that value that you can get from food. And so I think that you a nutrients you exactly yeah, she'll connection and love and all the things that everyone else has said in the podcast. Yeah. Yeah, and I think as well like You think of Hell slightly step to the side here a bit somewhat related. When you think of Health, I think a lot of these people that that don't necessarily have this nutrition background in terms of like a uni degree like we do they just see physical health and they don't see anything else like like social health mental health mental health. Yeah. I was thinking of what I like pm. And and yeah physical health emergency. Okay nutrients. Sodium back for heart and yeah, like everyone knows things like that, you know, if you have too much salt. Yeah. It's probably going to be bad for your heart. But but you need to look at everything like the whole picture of everything. So it's not just physical house like equally as important is mental health and yeah like social health as well and I think like, you know, we can all probably relate there's all been times in our lives. I'm not sure to like what extent well, you know. Things have gotten really hard mentally your health has has suffered because of that and yeah, it's really important to consider that, you know food restriction and that can really affect your mental health and food is really important in helping the Whole Health in the whole picture of it. So, yeah, I think it's it's another thing again like we equip ourselves with a lot of skills and we look at the person who is sickly and not just calories in calories out. Without physical health because that's just not sustainable that your humans. We're not machines. Yeah, and like in the example of sodium, you know, what else is bad for your health and bad for your heart health anxiety anxiety related to reducing your sodium and not enjoying your time out with friends. So it's like you've got to I think we're equipped with the skills to realize that and to look at the bigger picture and think. Okay, like yes nutrition at its biochemical level is important. Yeah, but it's also so Much more than that and it's and that's where like again going back to the dietitian versus any other member of the public that's what we're equipped into realizing in that we do have the larger broader thinking about this stuff. Mmm. So, yeah, and you're only human like if yeah, I mean and social health are going out for a drink with friends on the weekend. I mean, you know, maybe to some extent not as hard as I may have done in the past. Past yeah, like it's important. It's so important you need to do these things and it's important to yeah, like maintain your friendships and see people and a lot of that has to revolve around food and drinks. Yes. Yes exactly right important to give that credit to yeah. Yes, what a good note to end on before we sign off. Do you mind telling us a probably not as relevant for use a lot of other people that we've had on but like what you're currently working on where we can find you. Where people can see more of your work, so I guess it what I'm currently working on actually at work, which is exciting. So I've got my obviously my regular role of assessing claims looking at whether people can and can't work and working with rehab Specialists to get people back to work. So that's the 90% of my role which every day is different because everyone is off work for different reasons, which makes it exciting. But I'm actually at the moment we're working on starting up and it's has started up and the competition that I did at the end of 2017 has kind of fallen off the side of a hill after I did it and so when I started I did ask is the competition running again, and they said no anyway in about April this year. We got it running again. So I got into contact with a few. Tax at Monash. So now we have seven finalists in different Allied Health background. So we've got Social Work psychology. I think we have nutrition. I think we might even have some medicine and we're restoring the competition. So I'm like on the board of that and I'm excited about that. So now I know now I'm on the other end of not having to present you front of me being presented to you by another student. So that's what's happening internally at at mlc where I work, but I guess like where to find me and and I guess what my next steps like you said before like, I'm really thinking about doing nutrition riding again. It's not something that I have started yet, but I guess a bit of like watch this space and I'm sure bran analyzer will know I'll tell them well, then I have yeah when I do or if you What I end up doing and what like social media platform that that is on but yeah, I just keep an eye out. And if anyone I guess has any questions about different career paths to the norm and and how a bit more detail on how I got to where I am and more about what I do. They can find me on Facebook anyway, and they can probably just ask lies. Yeah. Yeah to get in touch with me, but I don't really have a lot going on at the moment in terms of blogs or anything, but it's probably something I'm going to consider moving forward. Yeah, nice all will update the podcast show notes and things with yeah any culture? Yeah Endeavors, but I'm super excited to see where your career goes because it's such a difference. It's it's so different to what anyone else we know is doing and it's really exciting. It's so different but it's good. It's good. It's different. I like it. It's so that you could be like your Target still. Yeah checkouts. Now these are actually doing. Hey, what are you still doing here? The party's over. Thanks for sticking around though. And thank you so much for coming to our pantry party. Yeah. I hope you had a great time. I mean we sure did. Oh, no, don't worry about doing the dishes leave them there. Yeah, we'll come tomorrow. Just get home safe. Yeah. Okay. So if you really want to do something you can hit the link down below. It takes you to our patreon page or you know, just check out our website or Instagram share this episode right us on Apple podcast. Maybe will be new and noteworthy. The one day I would be a great room for a party. Yeah, but either way go home. Yeah besides over by.
Today we have the pleasure of talking to great friend Simone Abley. Sim holds a Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics and provides a positive reality check for new grad dietitians. We talk about why Sim went into dietetics in the first place; the ins-and-outs of having allied health professionals in the insurance industry; how your university course probably won’t prepare you for your first job (and why that’s okay to some degree); the societal expectations of what a dietitian does, how that limits us, and why that ties into a need for better advocacy skills. We also discuss plenty of advice for new grad dietitians facing the intimidating employment world, being willing to learn and be inquisitive as you go, and. the importance of taking time off after uni. 