RDN Spotlight: Edwin Johnson, RDN
What is your ethnicity/race Did your family have any customs related to food?
I myself am Indian American! My parents are first-generation immigrants who came to American in 1987 from a state in India in the south called Kerala. Growing up, as a family, there was plenty of delicious South Indian food but no particular customs when it came to us as a family. However, the customs did kick into full gear when guests were over! It is absolutely imperative that you are fed if you are visiting our house even if you weren’t hungry. You will be made chai (made with milk, cardamom, black tea, and sugar), given some type of appetizer on the coffee table as you sit and chat (could range from fresh fruits to samosas), and finally, served a delicious South Indian style dinner. If you refuse, be warned that my parents will insist until you cave. Many have tried to refuse, few have left with an empty stomach.
Where did you go to school and complete your dietetic internship?
I went to school and did my undergrad at Queens College located in Flushing, NY (woot, woot). I graduated in 2015. I loved the college. I loved the professors. Every professor seemed very passionate and they all pushed you to be the best you could be in the profession. After that, I applied to Northwell Health to complete my dietetic internship (dietetic internship) as my first choice and was accepted. I started the DI in 2015 and graduated in 2016. Luz E. Valencia-Penagos was the program director and she was phenomenal. I couldn’t say enough great things about her. Our class was definitely a handful and she would always check up on us even after we graduated to see how she could help and what doors she could open for us to get jobs and find what we truly desired to do.
Why did you decide to choose nutrition and dietetics as a career?
I chose to be a dietitian as a career when after I had done some volunteer work in the Philippines. I would be going to different villages that were hit with terrible hurricanes and floods to serve food and provided help wherever needed. As I was serving food to the children in these villages, I realized that sometimes these small meals would be the only meals that they would have in the entire day. If we didn’t show up, they would have no guarantee of food for the remainder of the day. Seeing visible wounds, distended abdomens from Kwashiorkor, and 18-year-olds that looked more like there were 10 or 11 from prolonged malnutrition, really opened my eyes to the importance proper nutrition could have in people’s lives. It is vital for every human being. On top of that, fitness has played a huge role in my life from a fairly young age. Competing in different races, bodybuilding competitions, etc. has always kept me in the field of nutrition. The combination of fitness and nutrition is something I deeply love. These experiences and interests really made me want to go down the path of choosing dietetics as a career choice.
What do you do now as a dietetics professional and what does a typical day or week look like for you?
Right now I work as a clinical RDN in Brooklyn. 4 days out of the week I work in the main hospital as the dietitian for the Medical-Surgical floors and 2 out of the 4 Psychiatric floors there. I work closely with the team on each floor to provide the best possible nutritional care for the patients based on their diagnosis and needs. I love to interact with each patient and make sure they are properly taken care of. Relating to patients and understanding the difficult situations they’re in allows them to feel human and not just another patient being treated. That connection with the patient is an extremely important part of care that I am passionate about. Outside of that, I will also cover ICU and Detox floors when my co-workers are out and also work with the medical team to calculate enteral and parenteral nutrition for patients who require it. 1 out of the 5 days that I’m working, I work at the hospital’s outpatient facility in which I am able to meet and follow up with patients who make time out of their day to come to see me. Primarily I deal with people who are diagnosed with diabetes. I do a thorough education with them regarding the best approach they could take to control their sugar levels. I also help them navigate very common questions they have that just have never been answered by anyone before! Such as, what is HbA1C? What is prediabetes? What do I have to cut back on? Can I still have a little bit of my favorite dessert? People just need to be heard and respected. I’ve seen my clients breakthrough several obstacles that they were facing previously, that they now have full control over. It is exciting and rewarding. Other outpatient cases can be weight loss, how to best take control of cholesterol, foods that boost moods. Really just any sort of help an individual needs that can be treated or aided through nutrition. When I get home and on the weekends I like to work on my nutrition-related Instagram account and create educational material for the public based on research-based articles that I will read when digging into different topics I find interesting. I also love creating shirts and items for the dietetic community which is just a fun side hobby of mine. All of these things keep my week pretty full and exciting!
What was the biggest challenge for you in becoming a dietitian and how did you overcome it?
A challenge that I had, which I believe many dietitians can relate to, is gaining the respect of some MD’s and allowing them to realize the importance of the profession. MD’s are very respectable and knowledgeable and worked very hard to get where they are, but a lot of times it can cause them to overlook the nutritional aspect of a patient’s care. This was particularly difficult for me when first becoming an RDN. One example is when I was trying to explain to and MD that a patient should not be bolus fed through the J-port of a GJ-tube. The MD was arguing with me for 10-15 minutes that it was fine but I kept pulling up different sources to prove my point. He finally had to call a GI specialist only to find that what I had mentioned regarding the intestine not being able to hold as much volume as the stomach was, in fact, correct. The patient was then able to receive continuous feeds through her J-Port and felt a lot more at ease going along with this plan of care. I will say that now, at the facility I’m in, many doctors I work with are extremely respectful of our profession and it is a pleasure to be able to work with them as a team.
Have you had any mentors and how have they affected your career?
I wouldn’t say I’ve had any direct mentors in my career. I take motivation and inspiration as I see it on a day to day basis whether that’s through fellow RDN’s or various women and men of color fighting for positive representation. I love seeing women and men of color being represented in positive new ways in the media and in professions. Seeing my wife constantly hungry to excel and push further in her career as a Speech-Language Therapist has been very inspiring to me as well as she has been battling endless obstacles throughout her life as well. It all helps me to grow as an individual, pushes me to be better in my field, and inspires me to break out of my comfort zones and push the creativity that I have and love within myself. If I don’t use my creativity then I end up feeling very numb and wasteful of opportunities and talents that I possess. So I always try to use them as best as I can.
with my wife, who is a Speech-Language Pathologist
Why do you think diversifying the field of nutrition is important?
Diversifying the field is EXTREMELY important. In a statistic I recently read, out of the 103,362 dietitians in America, 75,711 are white (81%). I think it’s important to show that there are other ethnicities representing this field. Many times, as a man of color, I am able to relate to my patients and further understand their struggles or aspects of their culture that other dietitians may not be able to understand. Outside of this, the food plans and food that are provided to patients of different backgrounds can widely improve as there is more diversity being brought into the field. More diversity builds the opportunity for more knowledge. More knowledge leads to more acceptance. More acceptance leads to great change. And that change is what can powerfully alter the outcomes of the individuals we care for. Don’t be burdened with the negative aspects of the dietetics field that you may hear. Because this is a field that is extremely important on a global scale and one that presents endless opportunities for those who are willing to reach for them.
What advice would you give a student of color interested in entering this profession?
You will be what you create. Especially as a woman or man of color in dietetics, if you just step into the field and go through the motions, you will actually cause yourself to remain still. But if you step into this field with power, knowledge, and respect, then you can create endless opportunities for yourself and show your worth. This is a field where you oftentimes have to show your worth in order for the people around you to understand what you're capable of. When they grasp that understanding that is when the work that you do becomes the most fulfilling. You are important.
Do you have anything you want to share?
I believe that we should always embrace who we are, love our complexion, love our bodies, and live our lives fully and boldly. I'm an Indian-American dietitian trying to break stereotypes and be a source of motivation to everyone watching me on my Instagram page, and wherever I end up, that looks like me. I never saw Brown men or women portrayed in the media growing up that was seen as powerful or positive. We were either the butt of the joke or feared. I don't want another generation to have to go through that or go through the things that I was put through just because my skin was a different color. I don't want them to feel like they are placed in a box that society forces them into. They are capable of so much more.