Registered Dietitian Spotlight - Whitney Warminski

Today is Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Day! This is a day to recognize our food and nutrition experts who are committed to improving the health of their patients, clients and communities. Harrington Cancer Center’s Registered Dietitian, Whitney Warminski, RD, CSP, LD-Clinical Dietitian, shares with us why she chose to work for Harrington and what she loves most about working in nutrition.

Here is what Whitney had to say:

“I have worked as the Registered Dietitian (RD) at Harrington Cancer Center for almost five years. During my dietetic internship, one of my clinical rotations was at Harrington. I discovered from my rotation that I really enjoyed oncology nutrition and knew I wanted to specialize in it someday. I saw how much the patients and caregivers valued having access to an RD to help them with their nutrition during treatment and I truly enjoyed working with them. I was also impressed with how the physicians and other staff valued nutrition services and viewed the RD as an important part of the treatment team. One thing that makes Harrington unique is that all of our Supportive Care Services (nutrition, social work, counseling, volunteer services) are available to our patients at no cost.

The best thing about working in nutrition, specifically oncology nutrition, is having the opportunity to help patients in what could be the most difficult time of their lives. Nutrition is science and translating that science into practical things patients can do to improve their nutrition status is what I enjoy most about this field.

I always had an interest in medical and healthcare professions. I was a junior in high school when I first learned about RD's and how they provide medical nutrition therapy to help patients manage and prevent disease. I thought it would be a good match for me because of the science and medical requirements, as well as the interpersonal component of interacting with patients and other healthcare disciplines.

The majority of my day at Harrington consists of seeing patients in our medical and radiation oncology clinics, helping patients manage any nutrition impact symptoms they are having. I see most of my patients along with our physicians and nurses so that they really get the benefit of having a multidisciplinary approach to their oncology care. I also have consultation appointments with patients to assist with weight management or any other nutrition concerns. During each of these nutrition visits, we typically discuss things like current diet intake and diet history, body weight, lab values, medications; then we create individualized nutrition goals and practical ways to meet these goals, and answer any questions they may have along the way.”