I am a Registered Dietitian.
- Abby Dafoe
- Jan 23, 2019
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 4, 2019
I am a Registered Dietitian. RD for short.
What does that mean to me? The Public? My coworkers?
Being a Registered Dietitian is something that I am proud of. Something that has become more than just a title to me. I am proud of my profession, and strive to represent dietitians as a respectful, competent and ethical health professional. To the public I am a trusted health professional. Someone that the public can trust to provide confidential, safe and evidence-based nutrition advice, protect their privacy and provide client centered care. To my coworkers I am a competent team member that can bring value, different perspectives and collaboration to create a more holistic approach to a program or patients care plan. This is how I see myself, and how I strive to be seen by others. This is my professional identity.
I am a member of the College of Dietitians of Ontario. The college has a goal to protect the public by supporting dietitians to be able to practice dietetics in a competent, safe and ethical manner. There are many resources available to me from the college to meet this goal.
However, one could argue that practicing dietetics in a competent, safe and ethical manner has become more complicated in recent years with the birth of social media. Health professionals learn that topics such as privacy, security of health information, confidentiality and trust are the upmost important in healthcare. Therefore, as social media progressed, and the option of peoples (including myself and potential clients) lives and opinions became more public, as a health professional, I decided to keep my social media usage strictly personal with high privacy settings.
However, I am now embarking on a new journey, and have started my Masters of Health with Athabasca University. To my surprise, our first assignment was to do a social media and professionalism audit. At first, I was pleasantly surprised that I was practically untraceable online. Then I started to reflect – is there a benefit of having a professional digital footprint? Am I missing out on opportunities that come with social media in a professional context? There are professional benefits such as “the ability to meet the demand for instant delivery of information, advice and education, and creating communities of practice to support health professionals and clients” (Cohen, 2013). There are also risks such as violations of patient and health care provider boundaries, breaches of privacy, or damage to professional image (Ventola, 2014). However, creating communities of practice to support health professionals and clients resonated with me. Could I be a more competent, well rounded dietitian with the information and support of a digital community of health professionals? Connecting with professionals beyond the four walls of my office and entering the digital world sounds exciting, but also something that I will enter with caution. As I also mentioned - ethics, trust, and ensuring privacy are also deep-rooted values I hold as a dietitian and may be more at risk in the digital world. Therefore, when creating a professional social media platform, I will use the following advice from the College of Dietitians:
“Stop and reflect before posting anything online” (Cohen, 2013).
Reflect on my professional values. Reflect on my obligation as a dietitian to keep the public safe. Reflect on my how I portray myself to the public. With these rules, I believe I can mitigate the risk of using social media and enrich my professional community of support – and thus – become a better dietitian.
References
Cohen, Deborah (2013). Social Media and Dietetic Practice. Retrieved from
College of Dietitians (n.d.). Protecting the Public. Retrieved from
NordWood Themes (n.d.). Connect with Others [Online image]. Retrieved January 31, 2019 from https://unsplash.com/photos/yyMJNPgQ-X8
Rawpixel (n.d.). Hand Team Work Together [Online image]. Retrieved January 31, 2019 from
https://unsplash.com/photos/IJFnMSGY_bM
Street, Jamie (n.d.). Fruit Berry Strawberry and Bowl [Online image]. Retrieved January 31, 2019 from https://unsplash.com/photos/tb5A-QTI6xg
Ventola C. L. (2014). Social media and health care professionals: benefits, risks, and best
practices. P&T: a peer-reviewed journal for formulary management, 39(7), 491-520. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4103576/
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