Hi there! 

Thank you so much for being here in this space of the internet, and for taking the time to read this blog post. It means a lot to me! 

For my very first post, I thought it would be fitting to introduce myself and tell a little bit about the journey that's lead me to where I am today, and the vision of where this is going go.  So let's start at the beginning. 

In Grade 9 (we're going way back!), our school counsellor came to our English class to discuss career options, we completed a quiz- and guess what - Dietitian came out as my #1 option. I didn't give it much thought, until Grade 11 - when I started making the connection between what we eat, and how we feel. I knew I wanted to be an RD right then, and never looked back. 

After graduating from High school, I took a year off to travel, and see if any other career options could dissuade me from my RD path- but nope, my mind was made. So I applied to one university (UBC), and after getting accepted I printed out the list of the EXACT classes I need to apply for the dietetics program and just started ticking the classes off the list. Given getting into the UBC Dietetics program is very competitive, at the time less than 30 students were accepted into the program per year, I actually had some of the school advisors call me and try to encourage me to take other classes so that I would not be left in the dust if my RD dreams did not come true. I thanked them for their concern but kept my eye on the prize. I applied to the program, and got in.

A few more years of schooling and then it was internship. I completed my 10 months of internship through Vancouver General Hospital. Knowing that internship was my time to really get the most experiences I can - I applied to have part of my internship at BC Children's Hospital. Thankfully, I got the placement and shadowed an RD working in CF. I'm not going lie, my first day interning at Children's I came home crying. To see kids and families in pain really got to me. I always enjoyed helping kids and being around them, I always have- I was an avid babysitter, childminder for YWCA groups, and coached sports and volunteered as a camp counsellor. I was not prepared to see children in hospital, but after a tear filled conversation with my now husband, I decided that night that not only could I help babies, kids and their families - it was my calling. Putting smiles back where they belong became my mission, and I have never looked back. 

Right out of internship, I started working at BC Children's Hospital. To be honest, being an RD for kids and babies was never on my radar. Schooling really revolves around adult care and adult medical nutrition therapy - only a small segment of one of my classes in UBC was dedicated to "nutrition of the lifespan". So my first year as an RD Children's Hospital, was basically like being in self-directed school. I have to say looking back, I really worked hard, I applied myself and soaked up all the knowledge I could from my colleagues, and at night studied, studied and studied some more. I created my own worksheets, and really dedicated myself to being the best I can be. 

I worked in a lot of areas at BC Children's Hospital and BC Women's Hospital until I made the decision to leave in 2020. I worked with great teams, and had the pleasure of helping countless children and families in areas including Mental Health inpatients, Neurosurgery inpatients, Neurology inpatients and outpatients, Spinal Cord clinic, Ketogenic Diet, NICU, Clinical Teaching units, Orthopedic Surgery, General Surgery Inpatients, Gestational Diabetes and Prenatal Nutrition.  

Though out my time at the hospital, I had always been aware of the fact that once patients left the hospital, there was limited access to support in the community for families when it came to pediatric focused nutrition. For this reason, making the transition to being a community resource made sense to me.  For the past few years, through my practice, Feeding from the Heart, I have seen patients through individual consultation at Paramount Pediatrics in Surrey. And it has been a joy to be able to be a support to children and families.

But yet, I feel a calling to reach even more children, more families and make a greater impact. So that is why I am expanding the reach of Feeding from the Heart - by breathing fresh life into an instagram account, creating a website, a blog and working behind the scenes on even more exciting things. I am still on a mission to put smiles back where they belong, and I am equipped with the drive, knowledge and passion to do it.

Let's go!!  

~Brigitte McRae, RD