Publish date: 22 June 2022
Student Dietitian John shares their experience so far during Dietitians Week 2022
Hello, my name is John, and I’m a Student Dietitian currently on placement at Northumbria Healthcare Trust.
I started my dietetic Journey when I was 26, after a career change from working in the retail sector.
The motivation for this came when I saw a Dietitian for a personal health condition. I responded extremely well after following their advice and felt that I wanted to learn more about the role. I noticed that the Trust was holding a Dietetics Open Day and decided to attend. Doing so helped solidify my decision to pursue a career in Dietetics!
I knew that applying to university would be a challenge, having not completed the right A-levels. Fortunately, Gateshead college offered an Access to Higher Education Course in Science which, on completion, would allow me to apply to university. Fast forward 3 years and I’m now in my second year, studying Dietetics at Leeds Beckett University.
Now that I’m on placement, I feel I’ve gone full circle as I’m on placement with the same trust that I did my open day with. I’m in my second week now and loving the mixture of clinics, ward rounds and community visits. I’m so happy I made the change and would encourage anyone interested in the field to attend an Open Day near them. With the first ever Apprenticeship Programme starting last year, and more under development, there’s even more ways to get started!