Heidi Silver, PhD, RDN
ACEND Practitioner Representative, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN)POSITION | Skills/Attributes associated with the position | Examples of how I have demonstrated outcomes for each skill/attribute that qualify me for the position |
CDR Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) |
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*Trained and mentored dozens of undergrad and graduate students who successfully matched for internships and achieved RDN or DTR credentials. *Published a commentary in JAND, presented one of the most highly attended webinars, and published a guidebook for RDNs on clinical privileges for RDN order writing. *Employ RDNs and DTRs in clinical research rather than general research assistants. *Convened national meetings to set standards for implementation of the DRIs in state aging programs. |
ACEND Practitioner Representative, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) |
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*Have mentored and precepted 25 undergrad and grad nutrition students in nutrition research projects. *Teaching includes: MNT, Food Science, and Nutrition & Aging courses at undergrad level; Intro to Clin Nutr to med students; Obesity courses to doctoral students. *Member of national Obesity Medical Education Collaborative. *Provided public comment on ACEND draft standards and future practice taskforces. *Chair-Elect (2015) & Chair (2016) Council on Professional Issues for BOD of TN AND. |
Nominating Committee National Leader |
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*Chair-Elect (2015) & Chair (2016) of Council on Professional Issues for BOD of Tennessee AND. *Selected participant Dannone Institute Early Career and Mid Career Leadership Institutes. *Completed 5 Vanderbilt Leadership Development Workshops *Have extensive experience with public speaking, presentations, and publications in nutrition & dietetics. *Member multiple organizations including ethics committee for the obesity society. *Maintained a productive research team for past 13 yrs. |
Employer | Title | Years Employed |
Vanderbilt University Medical Center | Associate Professor of Medicine | 13.5 |
Dept Veterans Affairs Tennessee Valley | Health Scientist | 2 |
Jackson Memorial Medical Center - Miami | Nutrition Support Dietitian | 8 |
Leadership Position | Organization | Years Involved in the Organization | My specific leadership contributions, achievements and outcomes: | Leadership Skills used in this position: |
CPI Chair and CPI Chair Elect | TN Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics | 2014 - 2017 | As Chair Elect i was responsible for the annual meeting poster session. I increased poster presentations from RDNs, interns and students by 62% from prior years. This allowed dividing the poster session into 3 categories (food science, community, clinical) and providing 1st & 2nd place awards for each category. As 2016-17 Chair, my goal is to enhance the learning and CEU content of the meeting and make the meeting a key benefit for members with regard to new learning, new experiences and new opportunities to network. I have negotiated a multidisciplinary expert panel to address treatment options for obesity and T2DM. In addition, i have 3 RDN speakers addressing current hot topics including diet and the gut microbiome, and nutrition communications in today's media environment. | |
Advisor | National Malnutrition Quality Collaborative and Blueprint | 2015 - 2017 | My role is providing content and practice expertise to the development of a national blueprint to address identification and treatment of malnutrition, and to inform federal public policy to improve funding for research, education, and reimbursement efforts. Prior to this, i participated in the Malnutrition Quality Improvement Initiative as the principal investigator of the pilot and feasibility study that tested the tools and resources being used in institutions nationwide to improve identification, diagnosis, and continuity of care for individuals with malnutrition. | |
Medical School Curriculum Leader | American Society for Nutrition, Obesity Medical Education Collaborative | 2016 - 2017 | I represent the American Society for Nutrition in the national Obesity Medical Education Collaborative. In this role, I have contributed content expertise for the development of medical school curriculum competencies to be used nationwide to improve the knowledge and understanding of medical students in the role of nutrition and nutrients in body weight regulation as well as the role of the RDN in the treatment of overweight and obesity and the need to improve the rate of referrals to RDNs. | |
Ethics Committee | The Obesity Society (TOS) | 2014 - 2017 | Reviewer of advertisements submitted to be placed on TOS website and in TOS annual meeting program for consideration of whether the advertisement creates a financial or ethical conflict with the interests of the obesity society mission and the values of its members. | |
Director | Vanderbilt Diet, Body Composition, and Human Metabolism Core | 2011 - 2017 | I included this leadership role because i have created and maintained a highly successful "business" within Vanderbilt where i train and employ RDNs to provide nutrition, diet, body composition, energy metabolism, and physical activity services to internal and external researchers so that RDNs will be utilized more widely in research and therefore reliable and valid methods for assessments and interventions will be provided by RDNs as the true experts within a highly valued "fee for service" model. |
What do you see as opportunities for the future of the nutrition and dietetics profession?
Our profession is at a critical juncture facing many external challenges. We need to learn from plans and pathways of other health care professions to assure that we have a competitive edge and vital role in the nation's health policies and practices. I aim to nurture, inspire, engage and empower our membership in meaningful efforts to achieve opportunities for stronger career ladders, compensation, and more autonomous practice to improve the quality and delivery of nutritional health care.
Campaign Statement
With great passion, integrity, pride and "outside the box" thinking, it will be my privilege to advocate strongly for the expertise of our profession and work to increase demand for enriching opportunities for dietitians in our nation's healthcare.