My Progression from Newly Qualified to Senior Specialist Dietitian
All smiles on my first day working as a Registered Dietitian. Excited to see where my career would take me.
My name is Miri and I am a Band 6 Senior Specialist Dietitian working in an NHS community trust. I work in nutrition support and prescribing support in care homes and with GP surgeries. My journey started in 2016 when I walked through the doors as a student Dietitian at Leeds Beckett University. For 4 years, I learnt about different areas of Dietetic practice and undertook 3 compulsory placements. Throughout my studies I flittered between wanting to work in eating disorders, renal and much more. I was fortunate enough to have both acute and community experiences on placement and by the end of my final placement I was certain community Dietetics was for me. I graduated in the summer of 2020 and started work right away.
My Band 5 Role
I started work in the summer of 2020, yes, during Covid-19, when everything was still virtual. The team I was working in was very supportive so I didn’t feel like I was missing out on gaining the supervision I needed as I started out in my career. My role was meant to involve care home training and audits, individual Dietetic reviews and auditing the prescribing of nutritional products by GP surgeries. However, due to Covid-19, we weren’t able to go into care homes to deliver the training and audits and GPs were not in a position to learn about the appropriate prescribing of nutritional products. The team was also seeing an increase in referrals for nutrition support. Needless to say, for the first 6 months of my career, I wasn’t doing everything my job description said I would. I was also completing all my patient reviews by telephone. In the early months of 2021 as Covid-19 restrictions eased, I had my first appraisal and was encouraged to think about where I wanted my career to go. Having only been a dietitian for a short time, I wasn’t 100% sure. I knew I liked my job and the work we were doing but I didn’t know when I wanted to progress and whether there was anything else I wanted to achieve. I just knew that I had only started to do everything the job described.
As I progressed through the year and my knowledge and confidence grew, I started to take on other responsibilities. I began to become more involved in training/supervising students on placement with us, taking part in department groups, supporting newer team members. I began to understand more about what I wanted from my career. With encouragement from my line manager, I started to take part in training activities (e.g. leadership courses and discussions around triaging referrals) that would help prepare me for my progression to a Band 6 Dietitian. It wasn’t until August/September 2021 that I began to think seriously about progressing to a Band 6 Dietitian. I wanted to feel confident in my abilities and also be carrying out the responsibilities on my band 5 job description. I was really grateful to be working in a team and department where there was no pressure to further my career unless I wanted to.
My Progression to a Band 6 Role
When I started working in August 2020, I immediately came to like the team I was in and knew I didn’t want to leave it unless I had to. Luckily for me, we did have a Band 6 job available. So, when I was ready to progress, all I had to do was wait for the job to go out to advert. In November 2021, the Band 6 role was put out to advert and I applied. I felt like the timing was right. I had my Band 6 job interview on 3rd December 2021 and I thought it went horribly wrong. My line manager called me shortly after and told me that I got the job. I started working as a Band 6 Dietitian pretty much immediately. I gradually took on line management responsibilities over a couple of months.
Over the next year, I began to really understand where I saw my career going. I really enjoyed the work I was doing in nutrition and prescribing support but I also really enjoyed student training and giving talks as well as promoting Dietetics (part of the reason I joined Future Frontline). My line manager is great and allows me the opportunity to meet what I want to achieve as much as she can. I am now due to take on coordination of a student placement for the first time.
Where I Am Now and Where I Want To Be
I’m still working as a Band 6 Dietitian in the same team and I don’t plan on leaving. I don’t think I want to be a Team Lead (Band 7) as I don’t think that’s what my skill set is for. I eventually want to become a lecturer in Dietetics. Only part-time though, I want to keep up with some clinical practice. For now, I keep my eyes peeled for opportunities to do any guest lecturing or support with interviews for potential student Dietitians at universities as well as opportunities to promote the work of Dietitians. I’m not looking to progress right now. I’m ok with that. I want to focus on developing my skills as a Band 6 Dietitian but I am open to opportunities as they arise.