Celebrating our Black and Minority Ethnic Allied Health Professional staff - Meet Savadia

What is your Allied Health Professional (AHP) profession?

I am a newly qualified Community Dietitian.

How did you get into this profession? How did you find out about it? What subjects/courses did you do at school/college? What support/encouragement did you have to follow this career? 

When I was in high school, I enjoyed studying Food and Nutrition, Chemistry and Biology, and wondered how they could lead to a career. I researched the different career options which best fit around these subjects and came across Dietetics, I instantly knew this was a career I could see myself in.

After graduating, I moved to the UK with my older sister and continued my studies with constant love and support from my family.

How easy was it to get onto a training programme? What were your thoughts before and after starting the course? Did you face any challenges and how did you overcome them?

I found getting into university to study Nutrition and Dietetics straight forward as I had studied and passed the required A levels.

I faced a few challenges throughout my time studying including having to move cities, which resulted in me having to complete an access course at my new college as the exam board was different to my previous college and so I was unable to continue where I had left off. Another challenge was that I became very homesick as it was the first time I had moved out, I didn’t know anyone and became lonely, but I made sure to keep in regular contact with my family back home, as well as my sister in the UK.

I also got involved in university life and activities like student ambassador work, joining societies and meeting up with friends which helped me to overcome these challenges.

What is your current role? What does a typical day look like? What do you love about your role? What would you like to change?

I am a newly qualified Band 5 Dietitian.

A typical workday includes virtual, care home, face to face clinics and face to face home visits with lots of patients from different backgrounds. These patients have an array of dietary issues such as, Malnutrition/nutrition support, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Coeliac Disease, Pancreatitis, Food aversions, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus etc. We also have weekly team meetings to have catch up and discuss complex patients, caseloads, and any other updates within the service.

I enjoy the flexibility that comes with the job, being able to manage my own caseload and personalise my days. I also enjoy the hybrid working aspect, which I feel allows for greater work-life balance.

What are your career aspirations? What has been your career path to date? What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?

As a newly qualified Dietitian, at the moment my goal is to continue learning and developing my knowledge and skill set within the field of Dietetics, whilst delivering the best possible care to my patients. Eventually, I want to take everything I have learned back home to Turks and Caicos to help the people of my country live better, healthier lives and manage and symptoms and/or conditions through better dietary choices.

What is your heritage?

I am a Turks and Caicos Islander, a British overseas territory small Island nation in the Caribbean, located Southeast of the Bahamas.