Kate Hall

Question 1. What attracted you to being interested in joining the board?

I have been an active member within the British Dietetic Association for more than a decade; more recently this included serving four terms as member of the BDA Council which during my tenure evolved to become the Board of Directors. I was then invited in 2022 to put myself forward for consideration to join the ICDA Board of Directors, which to me was an amazing opportunity to be able to work with fellow dietitians at an international level, to learn from other dietitians through sharing best practice and to support other dietitians, internationally.

Question 2. What do you hope to achieve in your time on the board?

I have in mind a few objectives for my time on the ICDA board: to work together to increase membership of the ICDA, by raising the profile of the ICDA, and help illustrate the value of membership. To encourage sharing within and for the benefit of the dietetic community, globally, and together to foster a culture of learning from each other.

To add the profile and presence of ICDA support to initiatives that are helping dietitians internationally, both now and in the future, to increase the credibility of those initiatives, and to drive up participation.

Question 3. What inspired you to be a dietitian and where you are today?

I had been interested in being a dietitian for almost as long as I can remember! I did spend some time shadowing a dietitian before I applied for dietetics at university, but I had already decided, by then, that dietetics was going to be my field of study, and ultimately, my career. The impact of dietetics is immense and cuts across so many different specialities and industries: initially I worked within the national health service, before branching out to work within the clinical nutrition industry, performing several different roles, during which time I also had the opportunity to work with some amazing charities, such as Carers UK. Lately I have returned to clinical practice and have embraced working once again within the healthcare sector (NHS and private healthcare). 

For me patients and carers are a huge inspiration – though throughout my dietetic journey I have met and worked with some truly inspirational dietitians, too – and everything we do as dietitians whatever it may be, is with the patient and carer at the centre. Working with others to help improve nutritional care provision and to drive towards equity in care is what sums it up for me.