As a South Jersey native of 27 years, Caitlyn became passionate about nutrition and dietetics when she was an undergraduate student.
The field interested her because it combined things she enjoyed such as working in the healthcare field, where she could help people, as well as food! She completed her undergraduate degree at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Caitlyn completed her internship and Master’s degree through Immaculata University. The bulk of her internship was done at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, NJ.
Caitlyn is currently an Outpatient Oncology Dietitian at MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper. A typical day for her includes seeing any new head and neck, lung, or gastrointestinal cancer patients. She also checks in with patients on treatment and troubleshoots any eating related issues they may be experiencing. Caitlyn speaks with patients who have completed treatment and discusses nutritional strategies for recurrence prevention. Caitlyn also just recently became an adjunct professor at Thomas Jefferson University where she is teaching a virtual class once a week on health professions.
In becoming a dietitian, the hardest challenge for Caitlyn was learning to trust herself and to speak up when she felt there was a nutritional concern that was not being addressed. Now Caitlyn feels comfortable advocating for her patients whenever necessary.
She has been lucky to have many mentors in her career including those at West Chester University of Pennsylvania and Cooper University Hospital. Caitlyn notes, “My mentors always encouraged me to never say no to new experiences and pushed me to get involved in nutrition and dietetics past just my job.”
A piece of advice she would give to a student interested in entering the dietetics field is:
“The field of nutrition and dietetics is very connected so don’t be afraid to introduce yourself to new people. You never know when you could meet that person again, such as when applying for an internship or interviewing for a job.”
In her free time, she likes to cook, travel, and spend time with her niece and nephews (Rylee, Luke, Landon, and Hank). Her favorite thing about New Jersey is definitely the shore!
