From Farmers Market to Health Clinic – Grow
From Farmers Market to Health ClinicA childhood spent around wholesome food inspires and influences this master’s student on her way to becoming a registered dietitian.
For some first-year college students, keeping healthy habits can be a challenge. Stress, lack of exercise and sleep, and easy access to fast food can lead to weight gain — the classic “Freshman 15.” But Naomi Moua MSx ’21 never fell into that trap. She carried a health-conscious attitude into college, one that started long before she set foot on a campus.
…The opportunity to share knowledge with others is one of the reasons Moua aspired to become a clinical dietitian (a registered dietitian who works in a health care setting) as early as her junior year of high school. “I had heard of Hmong doctors and nurses, but I had never heard of a Hmong clinical dietitian before then,” Moua says. “I decided I wanted to do it. Why not be the first?”
This goal steered Moua to the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in human biology with an emphasis in dietetics and nutrition. Later, while pursuing her master’s program at CALS, Moua’s internship at Aspirus Riverview Hospital in central Wisconsin confirmed her passion and interest in the field. While walking rounds with doctors and nurses, she gained in-depth knowledge about human diseases and, with the guidance of a preceptor, taught patients about the relationships between their health and the foods they eat.
