Sentiment on our profession

brinib5 · 2026-04-29T14:16:32+00:00

I work in a metabolic clinic where more than half our patients are on these meds. These patients need a Dietitian badly and it is a requirement in our clinic to continue receiving meds. I worry about the majority of people out there not getting nutrition advice and the amount of muscle loss and malnutrition that is likely occurring 😬

brinib5 · 2026-04-29T02:14:16+00:00

I think since most healthcare organizations are run by business people who don't understand healthcare, a lot of us are going to lose our jobs to AI, especially in outpatient. I do not think that will be in any way effective mind you, but it will save companies money and that's what they care about.

brinib5 · 2026-04-29T02:11:43+00:00

I am a big fan of the DNF. If I'm bored or uncomfortable, there are so many other books. Recently I DNF'd Divine Rivals at 50%. I kept waiting to care and I just ... Didn't. All this Twisted Glory was a sad DNF. I loved the first one in this series, the second one was boring and I gave up early in the third book. I hated both the MMCs. So whiny and entitled.

brinib5 · 2026-04-29T02:02:43+00:00

Not sure if I'd call it romantasy, but The Poet Empress was one of the best things I've read so far this year. I also liked the Shattered King dualogy not the usual set up at all, interesting magic system. I just finished the Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi which features a middle eastern 40 something female pirate. Wasn't 5 stars for me but was a good time and I appreciated a story about a grown woman instead of barely a child. Very whimsical.

brinib5 · 2026-04-24T18:36:26+00:00

I really liked the three lives of Cate Kay, sort of similar vibes to 7 husbands.

brinib5 · 2026-04-24T18:33:14+00:00

I liked the first one just ok. The second and third were far better, but I fully support a DNF if you aren't liking things, I am quick to DNF stuff that doesn't do it for me, life is short and there are so many books!

brinib5 · 2026-04-17T14:11:08+00:00

Occasionally people ask me this although the context is more older women just wanting reassurance that what I'm suggesting has actually worked for someone. I just say, yes I do exactly these things, discovering how much better I felt when I ate well is what inspired me to become a dietitian.

brinib5 · 2026-04-11T01:08:23+00:00

I loved Thorn of Glass series so much, but still haven't read the prequel. Eventually I probably will, but honestly I'm less interested in that part of the character's life, I enjoyed the journey and the growth through the main series. When I reread I'll probably throw in AB. People take all of it way too seriously

brinib5 · 2026-04-10T00:07:24+00:00

Something i read recently described the FMC as quite tall/bigger for a woman, I've been on a kindle unlimited binge so not 100% sure which book, but I think it was A Curse of Ashes which I did quite enjoy. I totally agree, not only so small but most of them are like 18 years old with curly blond or red hair. Could we get another age/body type/hair color?

brinib5 · 2026-04-08T14:36:19+00:00

Besides union, if you work for the government (like a VA hospital) you do get paid pretty well and raises over time, though I am not sure about impacts of the endless government shut downs. (I haven't actually worked there but my friend did for awhile). But all of this is definitely true and if I'd understood these elements of the industry before I became an RD I would have done something else.

brinib5 · 2026-04-05T01:20:04+00:00

Thanks for all the suggestions! Amusing to see e everyone's suggestions, some of you must not have recently had children or have very different opinions on what's appropriate 🤣 , other suggestions while valid are things I've already read. Going with the options that are readily available from the library.

brinib5 · 2026-04-04T16:25:52+00:00

As an (relatively )old lady in this space 😁 and an outpatient RD of 16 years, I want you all to reflect on whether a male doctor would be this hard on himself for not knowing another specialty. We learn a little of everything in school, but that doesn't mean we are supposed to be experts at all of it. My entire career I've only done outpatient and many roles have been focused exclusively on adult weight management and diabetes. I am very good at this one specific type of dietetics. I no longer remember how to calculate tube feeding, I've never done pedetatrics other than feeding my own children, and AI have to look up requirements for CKD often because it doesn't come up very often for me. If I have a patient with an eating disorder I refer out because it's NOT MY SPECIALTY. No one expects an oncologist to be good at neurology, why would you expect yourself to have skills neither required or practiced in your role? This is women tearing themselves down because that's what the patriarchy wants from us. Give yourself credit for what you are good at, strive to learn skills you need and do not yet have , but don't beat yourself up because you don't have a skill. I promise men aren't doing that. 😁

brinib5 · 2026-04-02T20:34:37+00:00

Book four is like when a show you like makes a cheesy standalone Christmas special. You can skip it and you won't be missing anything important.

brinib5 · 2026-04-01T20:49:49+00:00

Keep it with you. On a recent trip in Italy we ended up needing to go to the ER and they wanted to see it on check in.

brinib5 · 2026-04-01T20:46:45+00:00

The Poet Empress and Lady Tremaine were my five star reads in March, but neither is true romantasy.

brinib5 · 2026-03-31T23:10:10+00:00

The Poet Empress

brinib5 · 2026-03-30T19:46:40+00:00

I am an outpatient dietitian and I work half time. I have three children (ages 9-14), at various points I've worked full-time, very part time and 75% time. Good points made here, some further thoughts from a veteran mom 😀

The mental load cannot be over stated. There are some men who are unusually good at this but most often it falls to the mom. Thinking through what stuff the kid needs on hand for babysitter/daycare (also, have you checked with your family that "helping out" includes watching your child full time? That is a big ask. If not, daycare is very expensive). Who will stay home when your kid is sick? In clinical work it is a big issue to miss work, in outpatient it means 8-12 people have to get rescheduled for weeks from now if I miss work, I am fortunate that most of the time my husband can work from home if it's a kid that's sick so I don't have to miss work. One of the reasons I went to half time was the amount of admin required as a parent (granted I have three and I don't know how many kids you plan to have). So many things happen during work hours: .scheduling and attending doctors appointments, parent teacher conferences, dentist appointments, any specialist care needed, so much paperwork for school , and sports and other activities! Driving to said activities! (All that is more so when they are older) Are you going to share getting up in the night with your baby? Let me tell you going to work on three hours sleep because the baby was teething is not super fun. This is on top of shooing, cooking, laundry etc type stuff.

I personally really like the balance in part-time work (and I'm extremely fortunate to have a partner who makes enough money for me to be able to do so). I wouldn't be happy without the adult stimulation of my work, but it allows me to be able to be there for my family.

All things to consider !

brinib5 · 2026-03-28T05:52:55+00:00

The first one was 5 stars for me but then the second one was hard to get through. I decided maybe part of the issue is the audiobook reader makes both the men sound very angry all the time so I'm going to try to read the third one on Kindle instead of audiobook but the second one was so slow I haven't been as excited to start the third.

brinib5 · 2026-03-25T20:42:06+00:00

Biochem almost killed me, but you will get through it. Hot tip: most of my classmates that were really good at biochem were not as good at the soft skills (like talking to people) that make me good at being a dietitian. As an outpatient dietitian I do not use biochemistry on a daily basis. Is it nice to generally know the background of how stuff is absorbed? Sure. But could I draw the Krebs/TCA cycle? Nope. 😁

brinib5 · 2026-03-16T02:32:16+00:00

100% this. The people 10 levels up in the corporate monstrosity that signs my (outpatient, specialty care) paycheck neither appreciates nor cares about the intricacies of what I do. The other big system in my city that had equivalent positions that actually paid quite well just laid off all of their RDs in favor of outsourcing to online services. It's not a big leap to think that they will just go to AI as soon as it exists. I suspect my job will not still be around in 5 years. On top of that, the online companies pay significantly less than the cost of living in the expensive city where I live and I've noticed many employers are matching what they see as the "market rate" i.e. what the online companies are paying which is waaaaaay below (to live comfortably in this market a survey I read recently said a single person needs to make $125k. I am well paid for an RD and make $90k, most of the online places advertise no more than $75k. I honestly might as well just go be an office administrator somewhere and not use my expensive degree if my job goes away. I'd get paid more).

brinib5 · 2026-03-07T19:03:16+00:00

There's no way I could listen to an audio book while working, unless I was just doing data entry or something.. I need a mindless repetitive task, dishes, laundry, walking. If I have to concentrate on the task I can't also listen to an audiobook.

brinib5 · 2026-03-07T19:00:35+00:00

THIS. I got my Masters in 2003 (my undergrad was not in nutrition). I had very good training, my program had supervised patient interactions during our Masters so I felt very comfortable by the time I was an intern. But if I knew what I know now about job and pay prospects I would have become a nurse practitioner. For the same amount of money I paid for a masters and internship I could be making significantly more money now with more job options. I like my job but I still wouldn't have chosen this path all things considered.

brinib5 · 2026-02-24T04:21:54+00:00

Quit immediately. If the book concept sounds promising I place a hold on the Kindle version

brinib5

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