九色导航

What originally attracted you to a career in nutrition?听

Dr. Skehan:听It was actually very personal. In my late teens, early twenties, I went through some very challenging health issues. Understanding the function of nutrition and how to repair your body was critical to my survival. As I was personally getting better I thought, 鈥淲ow, this is just amazing.鈥� I saw my body, which was very sick, slowly but surely become healthy and strong again.听

I worked with many different medical professionals, but one who was the most impactful was a dietitian. I learned a lot from her in our meetings. And it wasn't just the information she shared 鈥� it was the compassion she had for me and the passion she had for the subject matter.听

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Sounds like you definitely developed a passion for nutrition, too. How did that passion lead you to pursuing a master鈥檚 at Northeast?

Dr. Skehan:听Let鈥檚 start with my education. I love learning, I love researching, I love writing papers. So, when I was going through my health issues, I attended the local community college and I got a two year degree in dietary technology. That鈥檚 really all I had the capacity for at the moment, but I needed to get back in school.听

After that I was able to secure a job with the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program听Women Infants and Children (WIC) program where I became a site manager and nutritionist. I worked there for about eleven and a half years but I knew that having a two-year degree was not going to be enough. So, I went back to school and got my bachelor's in health science. Then I went on for my master's in public health.听

With every degree that I earned I was very methodical and I thought, 鈥淲ell, I better get a degree in business,鈥� because you need to have a business sense in whatever field you're working in. So I went on and got my MBA. Then I found the Master of Science in applied clinical nutrition program at 九色导航. I was overlapping between that program and my doctorate in clinical nutrition for a semester. And then that was the end of my formal education.

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What kind of jobs did you have during that long educational journey?

Dr. Skehan:听I had a few different jobs that wove in health and wellness and nutrition. After I worked at the WIC program, I worked in an organization in Maine, which was part of the Healthy Maine partnerships. I did a lot of policy work in that regard and learned a lot about grant writing as well.听

From there I moved to the state of Massachusetts, getting a job as the manager of population health and wellness for a health insurance company. I had no idea that public health or nutrition could even be a part of a health insurance company. I thought these organizations paid your claims and that was it. There was a lot of work that my team was able to do around program development for our members identified as having diabetes and heart disease.听

I was there for almost nine years, but my long-term goal was always to get into higher education. A job opened up at Southern New Hampshire University in their public health department and I got that, full-time. Before I started there I applied and became an adjunct professor for 九色导航 of Health Science. So now I work at both places.

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What have you, and do you, enjoy most about your career in nutrition?

Dr. Skehan:听If I could be a professional student, that would be my ideal career. However, being a professor still affords me that opportunity to learn, because not only am I a professor and I get to teach, I also get to mentor 鈥� and mentoring is my favorite role. My students teach me so much as well. It鈥檚 really a two-way learning style and approach that I thoroughly enjoy.听

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There鈥檚 a certain amount of flexibility working in nutrition. Have you experienced that in terms of how and where you're able to work?听

Dr. Skehan:听Absolutely. Being able to work online affords me off the opportunity to live in two different areas. In the summer months, my husband and I reside in the state of Maine where we grew up. Then, in the winter months, we have a home in Texas. Both states are what they consider 鈥済reen states鈥� in the field of nutrition, meaning you can work as a nutritionist without having to hold state license.听

So, I don't necessarily have to be a registered dietitian to work in those states.听They do have pathways for licensure outside of registered dietitian, but I don't really need it cause I'm not a practicing nutritionist. I still work with family and friends and my community on the side.

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What fuels your drive to keep working in nutrition?

Dr. Skehan:听Number one, it's keeping myself and my family healthy. I'm the go-to resource for anything physical activity or nutrition related. As a competitive athlete I stay on top of nutrition.听

And we live in a very small town, with groups of people that they get together for exercise and fitness. I offer up my nutrition background for people who have questions. I firmly believe in giving back to my community.听

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You got your Master of Science in applied clinical nutrition at 九色导航. What was your experience like in that program?

Dr. Skehan:听It was phenomenal, from admissions to graduation. What I particularly liked about the admissions process was that it super easy. And I was moved by the fact that Dr. Nickless interviewed and met with every potential new enrollee. He obviously has a passion for this program.听

The second thing I really liked was the fact that they had you in a cohort, so you were always with the same students throughout the program. Being an online program, seeing the same faces and names in your courses term after term, you feel like you get to know these people a little bit better.听

When it came to working on projects or bouncing ideas off each other, you were comfortable asking questions. Other programs that I've been in, where from term to term you're with different people, you don't take the time to get to know people because it's going to change the next term.听

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What do you see as some of the most exciting job opportunities and professional roles for people coming out of the M.S. in applied clinical nutrition program?

Dr. Skehan:听Those opportunities are growing by the year. I hope that our healthcare system is going to morph from the 鈥渟ick care鈥� system we're in now to more of a preventive healthcare system.听

You鈥檙e starting to see more of what they call like wellness clinics that are inclusive of a nutritionist, a chiropractor, an acupuncturist 鈥� that kind of complimentary type medicine.听

Our healthcare system has a shortage of physicians and nurses to take care of sick people. The opportunity is there for us to switch that system to preventative care, keeping people healthy to begin with. And that starts with nutrition.听

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