Infuse Infuse 1 September 2017 | Page 10

Cover Story:
Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
with Maree Ferguson,
Founder & Director, Dietitian Connection
C
“
Infuse: Maree, when you began your career
in dietetics, did you envision yourself at the
Taj Mahal in 2017 – on business?
ongratulations! Today is
your day. You’re off to Great
Places! You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head. You
have feet in your shoes. You can
steer yourself any direction you
choose. ” Dr Seuss
Maree Ferguson: Not in my wildest dreams!
More than 20 years ago, I was a new graduate
dietitian. Back then, I never would have
thought I would visit the Taj Mahal -- let
alone for work purposes. The opportunity
unfolded when one of my PhD graduates,
Dr Ekta Agarwal (Assistant Professor at Bond
University), is from Mumbai. Ekta connected
with Dr Bhuvana Shankar, Vice President
[dietetics] and Group Chief Dietitian of the
Apollo Hospitals Group, via LinkedIn. This
connection ultimately led to my invitation to
speak in Mumbai, and is just one example of
the importance of fostering relationships. I’m
a strong advocate for joining LinkedIn and
building your network - especially overseas.
Commencement speakers at universities are
fond of quoting from the beloved Dr. Seuss
poem (above), “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!” And
for good reason: the poem leaves listeners
with the exciting notion that the world is their
oyster. So why let that thinking change when
Uni is left behind and you settle into a career
in dietetics?
Maree Ferguson always knew she wanted to
travel and see the world. She also knew she
wanted to be a dietitian. Today, Maree is in the
role of her dreams as director and founder of
Dietitian Connection. She travels the world
regularly, visiting bucket-list destinations that
she’s longed to experience -- all, as part
of her job.
Infuse: In your exchange of ideas with
Dr Shankar, what key learnings did you
take away?
MF: Dr Shankar is an inspirational dietetics
leader. She has a vision for her dietetics team
to be world class. As a result, she started the
annual Apollo International Clinical Nutrition
Update in 2008, with the aim of upskilling her
dietetics team in clinical nutrition practice
and research by bringing local experts and
overseas speakers to present. Each year the
meeting gets better and this year, in Mumbai,
it had more than 600 participants from 10
countries.
We chatted to Maree about her recent trip to
India -- where she was an invited presenter at
a dietetics conference, while visiting World
Heritage Sites in her free time. Bucket list:
tick, tick, tick!
Dr Shankar’s dietetics team work tirelessly
behind the scenes. From what I observed, she
has created a wonderful team environment
interview continues overleaf...
© Dietitian Connection
10
Infuse | September 2017