Becoming a Paediatric Dietitian- 10 tips!

By Evelyn Volders, AdvAPD

Students and new graduate dietitians often express a desire to work in paediatrics. It is a career that can be extremely rewarding and lots of fun. Here are some of my learnings from over 30 years of practice and some tips for you to assist in developing this career path.

1. You have to know what is usual or normal for age and development to be able to then manage the abnormal. When you get the chance, observe kids at play to learn about development. Watch children of all ages at meal and snack times to learn about the range of normal eating.

2. Dietitians should advocate for breastfeeding in the majority of situations. The impact to health, wellbeing and the environment is enormous. We are in a position to influence this in a range of paediatric roles whether it be clinical, community, public health or policy – know the evidence and don’t be shy to use it.

3. The influence of the Breast Milk Substitute (formula) industry through a range of advertising and marketing techniques is insidious. Familiarise yourself with some of these strategies and be aware of your responsibility as a health care worker to promote, support and protect breastfeeding.

4. Learning to eat is a skill. Make sure you know about the Division of Responsibility and Eating competence and Responsive Feeding to advise parents and carers.

5. Nutrition assessment is similar across the lifespan.  In paediatrics, you need to factor in growth and development, and use slightly different tools to adults but the assessment principles stay the same (ABCDE) - and you might have to collect information from parents rather than the patient depending on their age! Get familiar with the different growth charts and chat to children when you get the opportunity to.

6. The human body and its physiology and biochemistry is the same as well… Reference ranges might differ and there are certain diseases that are more common in children, but in general the body function and impact of illnesses are similar. Early infancy is the exception as humans are born relatively immature and the body is still developing. Know your nutrition physiology and biochemistry. This foundation knowledge will underpin your paediatric dietetics!

7. The NCP process is the same – Once you have done the ABCDE of your assessment, now you make your intervention and evaluation and monitoring plans. Check you are familiar with the AGHE and NRVs for children. 

8. The impact of interventions is seen quickly, in babies you can see weight increasing within a couple of days! Make sure you know what is normal growth for babies across the first year of life.

9. Parents are usually very motivated to follow well founded and evidence based dietetic advice to manage their child’s condition.  You can build long term relationships with some families and see their children grow from infants to transitioning to self management and then adult care. Again, your dietetic skill will provide a strong foundation for managing these relationships – get the basics down!  

10. Teams (inter and intra professional) in paediatric  health care settings are usually pretty happy and satisfied. There are occasionally sad days but the team helps you through these so look for opportunities to be an active team member.

Job turnover might be low, but keep aiming for your dream.  Look for opportunities to further your learning such as short courses (Monash Introduction to Paediatric Nutrition for health professionals or Royal Children’s Hospital certificate in Paediatric Nutrition) or webinars. Not all paediatric dietitians work in tertiary children’s hospitals. Whilst this might be your dream, you might consider working in rural settings or overseas where you may have a chance to gain some experience working in a paediatric ward or in the community where you manage children in an outpatient setting. Volunteering opportunities also give some great learning as well. If you are still studying, consider casual jobs that involve working with children. Good luck!

More information

Evelyn Volders, AdvAPD is the Course Convenor and Senior Lecturer in the Master of Dietetics program at Monash University and an Advanced APD. Evelyn is a specialist paediatric dietitian and has held a lactation consultant qualification. She has worked clinically at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne and in private practice and other paediatric hospitals. Evelyn has a particular interest in infant and toddler nutrition. 

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Image Credits: Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash