March 6, 2018
DIFM is pleased to highlight one of our international DIFM Members, Tatyana El-Kour! Tatyana is the owner of tk.clinic, a global telehealth system for medical nutrition therapy and care serving populations of the Middle East and Middle-Eastern populations in the global setting. She is an experienced global health and nutrition strategist with over 17 years of experience in the United Nations, global healthcare and humanitarian organizations, medical, corporate, and academic environments. Tatyana is an independent expert consultant focusing on global health, food, and nutrition systems in emergency, early recovery, and development settings. She is based in Amman, Jordan.
Tatyana holds a master’s degree in media psychology from Fielding Graduate University, a master’s degree in medical nutrition therapy and policy from Tufts University, a bachelor’s degree in general dietetics from Kansas State University, and a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and food technology from University of Jordan. She has received numerous awards and honors, including the prestigious 2018 Michael R Neal Legacy Award from Fielding Graduate University, the 2015 Leah Horowitz Humanitarian Award from Tufts University, the 2011 Outstanding Young Member of the Year Award from the Public Health and Community Nutrition Practice Group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and the 2009 Young Professional of the Year Award from Kansas State University.
What is your area of practice and how do you incorporate integrative and functional nutrition into your work?
I am a global health and nutrition consultant, a policy strategist, and I also run a telehealth system for medical nutrition care serving populations of the Middle East and Middle-Eastern populations in the global setting. I incorporate integrative and functional nutrition as part of my consulting and policy practice, and as part of my telehealth offering. This includes different stages of incorporation from assessing client or policy practices in relation to integrative and function nutrition, to diagnosis, care, and monitoring and evaluation at individual, household, community, and population levels. Some of the areas I work with are related to exclusive breastfeeding, chronic disease prevention, gastroenterology, behavioral and public health. I also advocate for evidence-based policy and regulatory action regarding the practice and the products promoted for integrative and function nutrition. I examine how macronutrient and micronutrient deficiencies, fluid and electrolyte imbalances, drug-nutrient and food-related interactions manifest themselves with one’s lifestyle pace, environment, behavior change management, and diverse health and diet related challenges, and within resource-limited and conflict and/or crisis-based settings.
What are some of the results you have seen since integrating functional nutrition into your practice area?
Improved population and patient-centered care by exercising empathy, integrating culturally and traditionally-ingrained practice, advising against misleading claims and practices, correcting for harmful practices, deficiencies, and interactions, highlighting unnecessary deprivation of nutrients, and improving communication between the public and the integrative and functional medicine industry.
Where have you completed most of your training in integrative and functional nutrition?
It’s not been a set pathway of coursework or training. My knowledge has been growing ever since I studied dietetics in my undergraduate and graduate studies. I have taken courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels related to complementary and alternative medicine back then – more commonly referred to now as integrative and functional nutrition. I was then learning on the job with every patient encounter, or policy development, or emerging media engagement. I have been keen on getting involved in critiquing evidence related to utilization of complementary and alternative medicine and integrative and functional nutrition as it relates to population health and nutrition outcomes. It’s been a very exciting pathway and I continue to learn throughout the process.
What advice would you give anyone interested in learning more about integrative and functional nutrition?
We need to be open, be critical, be courageous, and stay focused on evidence-based practice, on continuous learning, and on ethically evaluating what works and what does not work for varied disease states and conditions while also being mindful of culture, tradition, and emerging trends. There is also a need to realize that generating or contributing to new evidence brings innovative perspectives for practice and increases our resourcefulness and credibility, so it remains crucial to support practice-based research in this area.
Thank you for sharing about your path with us, Tatyana!