Infuse Issue 13 May 2021 | Page 7

Images courtesy of Karen Inge

" It was really hard , to be honest . Dietitians were not considered essential … I had to push in a bit "

“ I needed to upgrade my qualification … but unfortunately I wasn ’ t given permission to take a day off each week to do this … so one of my mentors told me to leave my job .” For obvious reasons , that was a big decision for Karen , but a sliding door moment – and a friendly colleague who helped Karen get her foot in the door on a research project for her studies – meant it came together like clockwork .
After completing her research on cardiovascular risk factors in VFL ( now known as AFL ) players , Karen landed another clinical position and opened up her private practice , but her interests were leaning more and more into sport , so that ’ s what she focused her attention on .
As Karen says , it wasn ’ t all smooth sailing – she felt she really had to prove her worth . “ It was really hard , to be honest . Dietitians were not considered essential … I had to push in a bit .” And how did she do that , exactly ? “ I really focused on the practical aspects of sports nutrition … it was about translating
© Dietitian Connection 7 Infuse | May 2021