“Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”

Thus said Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company.

Is any quote more applicable for Dietitians Day 2017?

On 31 March, we came together for our fourth annual celebration of the dietetics profession – and walked away inspired, educated, motivated and stronger, as a community.

There were a-ha moments…laughs…tears…awe…passion…debate…furious snapping of photos, as presenters shared their genius…and of course, THOSE GOODY BAGS (but more on those later…)
Here’s a quick run-down of the day – not enough to do justice to the plethora of indelible moments, but enough to give you a taste of how it went, if you weren’t able to be there in person.

• Over 200 dietitians: that’s how many made the journey to Melbourne for DD’17. Thank you all for taking the time – and travelling the distance – to be with us in person. Your support and enthusiasm for our DC community truly brought the event to life, and we hope you enjoyed making and renewing connections within our profession.

• Seven diverse presenters: the reason we all walked away from DD’17 smarter, savvier, inspired and energised! The day kicked off with the informative and practical breakfast workshop, presented by Monique Vero and Dr Joanna McMillan. Then, the lively, funny and unexpectedly soul-baring remarks from Carolyn Creswell, Carman’s founder and director, who made us all fall in love with her leadership style [and workplace!]. We enjoyed cutting-edge presentations with groundbreaking strategies for managing patient expectations and advancing patient-centric care, thanks to Drs. O’Brien and Montori. Then Jenny McAllister shared her personal journey in recovering from a near-fatal brain-stem haemorrhage, inspiring us all to keep going – even when “going” seems impossible.

After lunch, fitness expert Michelle Bridges joined us for a chat, surprising us with how down to earth she is – and how she struggled along the way to get to where she is today. She also revealed her heavy reliance on, and respect for, dietitians, including her own team of dietetics professionals. To round out the day, Karen Inge and Tim Crowe turned their sharp wit (and lively banter!) to the critical topic of the future of our profession, each contributing astute and thoughtful views based on their vast experience.

To all of these presenters, we say, thank you for the time and thought you clearly put into preparing and delivering your content. We came away learning so much – and wasn’t that a key goal of the day?

• One incredible emcee: we were so lucky to again have Dr. Joanna McMIllan as our day’s host. Joanna contributed her personal perspective, asked insightful questions of speakers to inspire discussion, and did a tremendous job of uniting the day and inspiring us to work together as we move ahead, by picking out common themes throughout our speakers’ diverse presentations.

• 24 stellar sponsors: without their support, the day simply would not have been possible; thank you, sponsors, for allowing us to make Dietitians Day a reality. And thank you for the best goody bags we’ve had yet, with of-the-moment literature and exciting new product samples. Delicious AND useful!

For more photos of the day, visit our Facebook site.

In closing, we leave you with this quote from poet Henry David Thoreau, which we feel does a superb job of capturing the spirit of DD’17:

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.”

See you in 2018!