A few years go by and you graduated as a dietitian , then what ?
I needed a job , fast . My university supervisor Sue Ash mentioned a locum going in Newcastle , so I had the interview , finished uni on the Friday and started at the Mater on the following Monday ! I had just missed pay week , so the first month I lived on a bag of oats and a giant cauliflower and thank goodness for the nuns , they gave you scones for morning tea ! It was just a wonderful job , I learnt so much over the next 2 years before I decided to go off travelling . I started my trip at the International Congress of Dietetics in Toronto in 1984 and met fabulous dietitians from all over the world , then travelled around visiting them .
I ’ m sure many dietitians reading this can relate ! What brought you back to Australia ?
I returned home when I got offered a job at the Royal Brisbane Hospital , which just had this great reputation , and I worked in
Images courtesy of Clare Collins . Above : Clare completing her PhD in the 90 ' s
the head and neck cancer unit . It was a really exciting time , but deep down my heart was in paediatrics , and my husband hadn ’ t been able to get full-time work in Brisbane , so we came back to Newcastle where I worked as a paediatric part-time research dietitian . The next few years flew by , as I had three kids , I worked part-time , I did locums , oh and a PhD ! It was also around this time that I did my first media training .
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"... pursue what you love , and it ' ll come together down the track ."
© Dietitian Connection 11 Infuse | November 2020