October 27, 2016
FNCE was jam packed and impactful this year! We had a very successful Symposium on Herbal and Non Herbal Dietary Supplements as well as a great showing at our 3rd annual Mind Body Happy Hour. For those of you who were not able to attend the Symposium, we have recorded it and will make it available here on the website for a small fee. We will send out an eblast when it is edited and ready. Stay tuned here on the blog for more write ups and reviews of the Functional Medicine track FNCE sessions including our Spotlight Session on Dietary Supplement and Cancer.
At our DIFM booth we had lots of interest in our practice area and gained many new members. It was great connecting with so many like minded dietitians!
The Academy Foundation also held a town hall meeting during FNCE regarding the Second Century Vision. We learned about the outcome of the National Health Summit meeting and what is being done to address the important role of the RDN, how we can collaborate and coordinate with others from across the globe in a variety of sectors to address malnutrition, food insecurity, chronic disease, technological advances and innovations regarding our environment related to food and nutrition.
There are currently 17 projects and 6 core areas of focus including Research, Technology, Education, Advocacy, Health Care and Investment. DIFM has started a critically important conversation with the Foundation about what we can do and how we can participate with these advances and changes since personalized nutrition in all these areas are what DIFM has strived to enhance as a DPG. For more info contact Monique Richard at MoniqueRichardRDN@gmail.com or visit the Second Century webpage.
We encourage you to volunteer and participate in this exciting initiative to advance and enhance our profession and and message.
I am so honored to lead this group of the most passionate, creative, and progressive thought leaders I have ever met. We are riding a tidal wave of interest in Integrative and Functional Nutrition (IFN) – we are no longer a fringe practice area – we are sought after experts both outside and inside the Academy and we are the 3rd largest DPG!
Thank you to those who filled out our member survey, your comments helped give us direction for the future to meet your needs. We are going to be developing client handouts, we have multiple upcoming webinars on topics you suggested and we are almost done with our Certificate of Training in Integrative and Functional Medicine (worth 10 CEU’s). I know it has been a long process but it REALLY is ALMOST done!
You all know that IFN is applicable in all practice areas – in patient – outpatient – community nutrition settings – food service. It’s a worldwide movement and true paradigm shift – and it takes an critical mass to reach the tipping point. We are all advancing this movement as pioneers – and we need YOU to keep the momentum going.
We have several ways for you to get involved:
- Please add yourself HERE to the 'Find an RDN' section on our website.
- We have also developed an Expert Database and Speakers Bureau and are actively recruiting. We get many requests to speak and write on IFN topics and we need you to help us!
- We are also hiring a research fellow through the Dietetics Based Practice Research Network to help us conduct a practice audit and publish a paper on the practice of IFN. This is a major project we are funding over the next 1.5 years and it will help clearly define for the Academy and all healthcare providers what we do as integrative and functional dietitians. Please click here for more details.
We are always open to hearing your feedback to make our DPG stronger. Please email us at info@integrativerd.org if you have feedback or are interested in getting involved on the board. At our executive meeting at FNCE along with our diversity chair Rita Batheja, we brainstormed ways we can increase diversity on our board. We strive to become a practice group that invites all voices and perspectives.
Again - Thank you for your membership, for spreading the word about DIFM and being ambassadors for this practice area!
Kelly Morrow, DIFM Chair 2016-2017