Opportunities abound for regional dietitians

After 20 years in regional dietetics, Corrina Michael is still excited to come to work every day.

A lifelong interest in health, coupled with a love of food and cooking, made dietetics a logical career path for Corrina.

Corrina, who is both Dietetic Professional Lead and Senior Dietitian Midwest, says she has seen the discipline evolve over the past two decades and is optimistic about its future.

“The growth of dietetics and the potential and opportunities we have really keeps you engaged and keeps you going within the profession,” she said.

“There’s always new clinical and service opportunities coming up, which is exciting because when people do the same thing for 20 years, they can lose interest”.”

As a Senior Dietitian, Corrina works two days a week at Geraldton Health Campus, travelling from the family farm near Mingenew about 100km south east of Geraldton.

According to Corrina, working regionally adds another layer of variety to the clinical role, which allows her and her colleagues to “do a bit of everything”.

“We become generalists, which does have its challenges, but we also have the ability to be involved in all areas of dietetics,” she said.

“You do work in a small team, but our ability to work within multi-disciplinary teams is a strength of working in the country. We support each other; we have a more trans-disciplinary approach.

“I might be the first person seeing a patient, for example, so I can ask screening questions for the occupational therapist or the speech pathologist.

“It means I have an understanding of how other areas of health can impact on whatever I’m seeing that client for.”

The rest of the working week is dedicated to her Professional Lead role, where she works collaboratively with Dietitians from all WACHS sites to support and improve dietetic services.

Having struck the ideal work-life balance, Corrina says she has no plans to leave the profession – or country WA – anytime soon.

“In the future, I definitely see myself still in regional dietetics,” Corrina said.

“I love my Professional Lead role because I can see where health is moving and all the opportunities around workforce and service.

“There’s so many benefits to living and working in the country – I’m so lucky.”