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My ADA
Janet L. Debelius, MA, RD
Internship Director, Sodexho Health Care Services, Gaithersburg, MD.
ADA Leadership Highlights: National – CADE: Program Reviewer/Site Visitor. Maryland Dietetic Association: Council on Professional Issues Chair; Council on Education and Research Chair.
Other Professional Activities: Maryland Nutrition Education Coalition.
Education: MA, Educational Leadership, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI; BS, Dietetics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.
What related experience and skills have you obtained to prepare you to be an ADA leader?
During my career as a Registered Dietitian, I have had the opportunity to work in different areas of the dietetics field. All of those experiences have contributed to my preparation for a role in dietetics leadership. In particular, my eight years of experience as an internship director have help me to develop many of the required skills, including communication, organization and planning, and relationship-building. As a leader in the Maryland Dietetics Association, I learned the value of involvement in a professional organization and have tried to instill those same values in my interns.
What do you perceive as an important issue impacting the dietetics profession today?
As an educator, I believe that the education of dietetics students and interns is extremely important to the future of our profession. One of the strengths of the dietitian, in my opinion, is their ability to work and excel in a wide variety of settings; management, clinical dietetics, health promotion, and community nutrition to name just a few. How we decide to prepare these dietitians of the future is critical in continuing to grow as a profession.
How would you encourage and promote diversity if elected? There are many things that could be done to promote diversity in dietetics. These include mentoring programs, scholarships and marketing to high schools and community colleges. As an internship director, one of the primary obstacles to attracting minorities to the profession of dietetics that I see is the lack of flexibility or options in the education/internship process. The development of programs with part-time options or flexible scheduling needs to be encouraged. Many students need to work at least part-time to support themselves.
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