South Dakota Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year!

by kelsey | Sep 26, 2018 | Etc., Goals, Wellness/Health

Last week I was recognized with the honor and award of South Dakota Young Dietitian of the Year! Our South Dakota Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics announced I was selected for the honor last spring (you probably remember hearing about it then), but we actually had our awards ceremony last week at our annual conference.  I am truly humbled and honored to be selected for this award!

As I was recognized last week, I have been doing a lot of reflection and I can’t help but feel grateful! Dr. Dan is always good about sharing his personal insight and story so I thought I would take a lesson from him and share some about my story today.

It is hard to believe that this summer, marks my 10 year anniversary at the Brown Clinic and 10 years of being a Registered Dietitian. As I look back on this journey, I have a lot of people to thank and be grateful for–for helping me achieve my goals and fulfilling my passion and purpose in life! I knew at a young age I was interested in a health care related field as I got to shadow my dad Dr. Clark Likness around at hospital rounds on a Sunday morning or check out the clinic as he worked on his paper charts (yes paper charts–no internet back then!) on a weekend afternoon. Health and science were normal conversations in our house. My older brothers went into medicine but I just wasn’t sure that was for me. My oldest brother once told me–you need to follow your passion, don’t go be a doctor just because we are…be true to yourself…so I was in search of the right field for me, it just took me a few bumps in the road to find it!

I first became interested in nutrition in high school when I took a nutrition class from Jensi Andrus at WHS. I was fascinated by it…not to mention she is an excellent teacher that helped intrigue my interest more into the subject! I personally saw a dietitian in high school for disordered eating and that showed me first hand how important proper nutrition is to your health and well being inside and out. I went to college at Augustana for biology and pre-optometry and after about a year there, I realized I was in the wrong field. Something just didn’t feel right. I enrolled into another nutrition course there my sophomore year, fall semester, and within two weeks, I knew I had to follow my passion and go into nutrition.

Nutrition is an incredible field of science–something is always changing, new research to learn about, and what is even cooler is how much a person can improve/impact their health by improving what they eat! In addition, our behaviors about food can positively or negatively impact our health–I wanted to help people have healthy relationships with food and not demonize or have negative thoughts and behaviors with it! Well my change of career choice meant that I had to transfer schools, change my major, and move. I can still remember calling my parents to tell them I made up my mind of my purpose in life and them telling me….let’s just calm down and take some time to think about it, and I said nope- I’ve made up mind, I’m going to visit SDSU next week to learn how to transfer into their dietetics program! LOL–I am sure they were really thrilled with me at the time! 😉 For once, it all felt right.

I transferred to SDSU mid-way through my sophomore year and enrolled into their dietetics program. It just so happened that at that same time, they were starting their new equestrian program that helped them comply with Title 9 rules. I received an athletic scholarship and made SDSU my home. I loved my time at SDSU–learning about nutrition and riding horse as a division I athlete! At SDSU, I met Dr.Kendra Kattleman. She was the program director and is now the department head. She asked me if I wanted a job and I knew I couldn’t turn down working for one of the best dietitians, researchers, and professors in the country! I worked for Kendra for 4 years through undergrad and graduate school. I learned so much from her and she has truly helped me get to where I am today–thank you Kendra!!

After SDSU, I completed my dietetic internship at USD’s Center for Disabilities and Med School in Sioux Falls. I had a great experience learning from the best RDs in the state.

I never thought I’d end up back home in Watertown, but the end of my senior year at SDSU, Adam and I rekindled our middle/high school friendship and began dating and the rest is history as we moved back to Watertown so Adam could continue to farm and ranch with his family.  I am so fortunate Brown Clinic saw the vision and purpose in wellness and took my new grad self onto the team in 2009. Dr.Dan and I created STRIVE 2 Survive, our multi-disciplinary approach to wellness and I have had the opportunity to work on several other really great wellness projects in addition to making a positive impact in all of the patients I see and the community I call home. It truly has been a journey and I couldn’t have done it without the support of my family, friends, colleagues, and community–THANK YOU! I feel like I got the best of my parents in my job–my dad’s medical side and my mom’s education back ground as I truly do both in my job!

I am looking forward to the this next phase in my career as we continue to expand and fine tune our wellness opportunities here at the Brown Clinic. We have some exciting things going on!! Thank you to my family for loving and supporting me through my ups and downs on this journey and especially now helping me be a working mom. Thanks to my great daycare lady Donnietta too–it makes coming to work easy and enjoyable when you know your child is well cared for! It truly takes a village! And thank you to all of you for allowing me to be a part of your wellness journey! I hope I have positively impacted you and your nutrition, health, and wellness!

Here are some pictures to share!

My purpose and loves:

Likness Family: Corbin was a baby and this picture doesn’t include our newest addition of baby Asher (Micah’s son), but these guys are the best!!

My In-Laws–the Ramls! Go Jacks!! (We’re missing the newest addition Ivy here –Grant’s daughter).

Awards Day: September 20, 2018: Dr.Kendra Kattelmann and myself. I wouldn’t be here getting recognized if it weren’t for her! Thank you Kendra!

Myself and Amanda Lambrechts. Amanda is a former student of mine that I had in the clinic and at SDSU. She is originally from Milbank and now working at HyVee in Sioux Falls and has her own private practice. Amanda nominated me for this award–thank you Amanda!

SD Dietitians of the Year:
Myself: Young Dietitian of the Year, Tiffany Krogstad: Emerging Dietitian of the Year, and Veronica Handeland: Outstanding Dietitian of the Year. Tiffany works at Sanford Oncology and Veronica at IHS in Eagle Butte. I am honored to have been recognized with them!

Myself with Dr.Dan….we make a great team for STRIVE 2 Survive!!

If you would like to work on improving your  nutrition, health, and wellness give me a call or email! I would love to work with you!

Kelsey Raml, MS, RD, LN

kelsey.raml@brownclinic.org

605.884.4226