I first became aware of Megan and her business, RD2RD, through a dietitian group on Facebook. I learned that she was helping dietitians in a unique way, by creating a space for them to sell their original digital work. One thing I love about this series is that there's always more that meets the eye and there is a whole other side to what Megan does. 

Why did you become a RD?

My passion for cooking and food led me to a career as an RD.  I knew as a high schooler that nutrition, health and wellness was my passion.

What area of dietetics do you work in?

I’ve had the great fortune to work in a number of different areas as an RD.  My passion is pediatric nutrition.  I began my career as a pediatric oncology and bone marrow transplant RD.  It was an incredibly fulfilling, yet challenging position.  After spending a number of years as a clinical nutrition manager, I went back to pediatric nutrition, first as a peds hospice RD and now with a private practice that specializes in pediatric and family nutrition.

How would you explain what you do?

Explaining what a registered dietitian does can be difficult.  My goal is to be a blessing in the lives of the people I serve.  There are both ordinary and extraordinary challenges that people face with nutrition.  Finding a way to use my knowledge and skills to be a blessing and help create joy or alleviate suffering is my primary aim.

What are your ‘typical’ daily/weekly tasks?

There is a rarely a typical week.  In addition to launching a private practice in the past year, I also launched RD2RD, a marketplace for RDs and DTRs (Dietetic Technicians, Registered) to buy and sell digital downloads.  I’m often splitting my time between tasks and some weeks have more focus on one than another.  Additionally, I’m the mom of 2 fantastic boys which keeps me very busy!

What has been your career path?

My 15+ years as an RD have been very blessed.  It has been dominated by a love of technology, quality improvement and project management.  Shortly after completing my dietetic internship in 2002, I led a project to implement PDAs for RDs at the hospital system I worked at.  I developed a budget proposal, selected software and trained the RD team.  This was my first big “tech” project and I quickly fell into roles with implementation of diet order entry systems and electronic health records.  Over the course of my 15 years, I’ve implemented and managed a call center, 3 different EHRs (Electronic Health Records), diet office software program, electronic productivity tool for RD and much more.  In addition to a love for technology, I’m fascinated with the intersection of technology with quality.  When implementing new technology, I find developing metrics to determine the impact on quality and outcomes to be incredibly interesting.  Building RD2RD has really given me the opportunity to use a great deal of both technology and quality improvement approaches that I’m passionate about.

What advanced education or special training do you have?

I’m currently in my 3rd cycle as a Certified Nutrition Support Clinician.  I have a passion for working with enteral and parenteral nutrition.  About 5 years ago, I completed a few courses as part of a Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety Certificate program.  I wasn’t able to finish the program as I became pregnant with my second child, but I have a deep interest in making healthcare higher quality and safer for patients.  

In an ideal world, what does the industry look like 5 years from now?

Nutrition is incredibly dynamic and a science that is very young.  I believe that technology and the continued push of healthcare to the outpatient environment is going to create opportunities for RDs to work with patients in new ways.  I see a great deal of opportunity for dietitians in chronic disease models of care that focus less on fee for service, and more on episodes of care.  The changing payment models for healthcare have the potential to create opportunities for RDs.

More about Megan:

Instagram: @rd2rd_marketplace &  @meganboitano.rd

Facebook: @rd2rd &  @meganboitanonutrition

Twitter: @rd2rd_market & @meganboitano

RD2RD blog: https://rd2rd.com/blog

Private Practice Website: https://www.meganboitano.com

Thanks Megan!