Emma Priestley
BSc in Food and Human Nutrition, graduated July 2016, First Class Honours Degree.
Registered Dietitian at Gateshead Health NHS Trust
Food and Nutrition had been an interest of mine for a few years prior to studying at Newcastle University and my four years of undergraduate education encouraged my passion for the subject even more!
Newcastle University provided me with so many opportunities and experiences that have helped me on my way to my current position. Highlights included helping with summer schools for nutrition students from Malaysia, going to many food factories in the North East (including Gregg’s) and of course the placement year. I completed an Industrial Placement in my third year at Kellogg’s European Headquarters in Dublin. I got to help organise and attend European nutritional conferences in cities such as Vienna, Paris and Munich. On a daily basis, I worked closely with the marketing and advertising teams on their nutritional claims for packaging.
After my industrial placement, I realised I wanted to work closely with people on a more therapeutic basis. I was always interested in biology and how nutrition can affect our individual health and wellbeing. I set about pursuing the pathway to become a dietitian! This was quite a tricky process but I secured a place at King’s College London to start my NHS training in September 2016.
And two years later… I’m back up in The North and working as a Registered Dietitian at Gateshead Health NHS Trust. Dietitians have many roles and tend to work with patients in hospital or community settings. We are trained on how to treat or improve patient’s symptoms based on dietary changes for a particular condition/surgery. I work with a wide range of patients including those with COPD, in critical care, elderly care, mental health and also run outpatient clinics for people with type 2 diabetes, coeliac disease or malnourished patients. Dietitians are continuously involved in training other members of NHS staff or students and get involved in many projects to improve patient’s nutrition and hydration and help people to meet their nutritional requirements.
It is a really exciting and evolving career and I couldn’t have got here without the support I received at Newcastle. This includes excellent teaching, the passion my lecturers had for their research projects, the amazing careers advice service and of course I have to mention all the fun I had in my favourite city along the way!