Featured Member: Robin Foroutan, MS, RDN, HHC

January 8, 2018
     

robin foroutan

We are elated about featuring Robin Foroutan, MS, RDN, HHC, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Spokesperson, as this month's featured member!

What is your area of practice and how do you incorporate integrative and functional nutrition into your work?

I have a private practice, so I am fortunate enough to truly live and breath integrative and functional medicine. I work part time at The Morrison Center, a fantastic integrative medicine practice in New York City, and the rest of the week I see my own clients and write for Wholistic Matters, a site dedicated to providing nutritional research to health professionals.

What ​are some of the results you have seen since integrating functional nutrition​ into your practice area?​

I don't think there was a time when I didn't integrative functional nutrition into my practice, so that's a difficult question to answer. I can't imagine caring for my clients in any other way.

 I don't think there was a time when I didn't integrate functional nutrition into my practice. 

Where have you completed most of your training in integrative and functional nutrition?

When I started studying the integrative medical model, there were very few cohesive programs that trained people in integrative and functional nutrition, so I started out simply attending conferences. Then, I completed the Institute for Integrative Nutrition health coaching program while preparing to go back to school to do my master's degree and dietetic internship, but I yearned for something with more substance and there wasn't much available at the time. Consequently, much of my training has been pieced together from attending conferences and training, learning from colleagues and mentors who I met through DIFM, reading and self-study, and attending conferences, lectures and watching webinars from various experts in the field. I've learned so much from generous integrative practitioners who took an interest in me and helped me hone my skills.

What advice would you give anyone interested in learning more about integrative and functional nutrition?

This is such an amazing time to receive quality training in integrative and functional nutrition! My first piece of advice would be to join DIFM and take advantage of all the learning opportunities they provide like webinars and pre-FNCE conferences, and if you can, get involved. My learning exploded when I joined the DIFM executive committee. I was able to meet my nutrition heroes and spend time working with the most brilliant integrative dietitians around, who I am fortunate enough to consider my close friends and colleagues. The education, encouragement and support I received from them was invaluable to my growth and career, and it opened all sorts of doors for me professionally as well. The Academy now offers the Integrative and Functional Nutrition Certificate of Training, which was a labor of love created by DIFM EC members. That is a great place to start. Second, take advantage of the free and low cost training that the high end supplement companies offer. Standard Process, Metagenics, Xymogen, Pure Encapsulations and others offer great webinars and one-day sessions that are great places to learn about different protocols and things of that nature. And third, find a cohesive program that takes you through all the different areas of integrative and functional nutrition. I'm a faculty member for Integrative and Functional Nutrition Academy (IFNA), which was started by two fabulous DIFM executive committee members, Kathie Swift and Dr. Sheila Dean. That program is fantastic and is done remotely. There's also Next Level Functional Nutrition courses that I've heard great things about, and other certificates offered by Rutgers University, University of Miami, Duke University, University of Kansas and Institute for Functional Medicine. There are also formal degree programs from University of Kansas, Maryland University of Integrative Health, and of course Bastyr University. Basically there are so many opportunities to learn more about integrative and functional nutrition, and it's an ever evolving field, so there's always so much more to learn.

Thank you for the inspiration, Robin!