Ana D’Escrivan, MS, RDN, LD, CDCES is an H-E-B contract dietitian in the Border region. Originally from Venezuela, Ana graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. in Nutritional Science, where she dedicated more than fifteen years of extensive work as a clinical dietitian. Ana worked in a multi-disciplinary hospital and as an Associate Professor in pediatric clinical nutrition in the second largest University in Venezuela. Because of her passion for teaching, Ana also ran her private practice and devoted many years to educating adults and children with nutritional needs. Ana moved to the United States with her family, where she completed the Coordinated Program in Dietetics (CPD) at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). Here, she was re-credentialed as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) in the U.S. Ana never hesitated to do what was necessary to continue serving passionately in her new home and strived to help improve the dietary habits of people of all ages. Her strong teaching skills and experience are evident when she educates her patients on making lifestyle changes.
Ana firmly believes that healthy eating is a matter of balance, and she works with her clients in helping them understand that there are no “good” and “bad” foods. By serving people from underserved Latinx communities, she focuses on considering the social and cultural aspects of health surrounding her clients to assist them in setting realistic and achievable goals. Ana is working hard to diversify her background as a Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES) and a Gerontology specialist. Educating and helping older adults is a new passion in her career. She continues serving as a guest professor for two universities in Latin America. She collaborates actively as a peer reviewer of a scientific journal from the Medical Faculty of the University of Zulia in Venezuela. Ana is a mom of three adorable boys and has been married to an amazing Italian-Venezuelan for 21 years. Her family has been her primary support. They love to share a good meal and to travel to new destinations. Ana enjoys reading books based on true stories and spends some time on social media, sharing nutrition content with a vast Spanish-speaking community.
Interview by Alejandra Amezola
Q: Why did you choose to become a registered dietitian?
A: Becoming a registered dietitian was not my first choice when I started working in the healthcare field more than 20 years ago. I originally started studying medicine in my native country of Venezuela. However, after completing my second year of medical school, I realized that I did not see myself as a medical doctor, yet I still wanted to work in healthcare. While studying medicine, I enjoyed my biochemistry classes a lot, where I learned how the different macronutrients impact the body. This is how I decided to start the journey of becoming a registered dietitian in Venezuela. After 15 years of working as a dietitian or “nutricionista” in my country, and due to political conflicts, I moved back to the United States. Then, I went back to college and enrolled in a coordinated program in dietetics to become credentialed as a registered dietitian again, but this time in the United States. All in all, I am very passionate about the work I do as a dietitian, and I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything other than what I love.
Q: What are your typical daily and weekly work tasks as an RD?
A: I work as a registered dietitian in an outpatient setting with RGV ACO Healthcare Providers (Accountable Care Organization). As the only dietitian in this organization, I do many different things. A typical day for me includes seeing Medicare beneficiaries at two other clinics (half a day in each clinic) to provide mostly MNT and diabetes education. Also, I conduct multiple home visits, where I provide nutrition education and counseling to elderly patients. Other weekly tasks might include supervising the Medicare beneficiaries with PEG tubes and checking to see if they are receiving the right formula and meeting their calorie and protein needs. Also, I provide a lot of in-home support where I meet with home-based providers and caregivers to ensure that our patients are receiving the right nutrition care, at the right time, and without unnecessary cost. In addition to these tasks, I also provide personalized menu planning, educational handouts, leading grocery store tours, and hold diabetes education group classes. After my day at RGV ACO, I work an extra two hours with H-E-B Nutrition Services. Here, I continue to see patients via telehealth and provide medical nutrition therapy (MNT) for adult and pediatric patients.
Q: What is your favorite part about working in dietetics?
A: My favorite part about working in dietetics is the versatility that our job provides. Our dietary interventions are an ongoing and dynamic process that allows us to share our skills and abilities with our clients and patients in various settings. What I love the most is being able to “touch” people’s hearts with my services.
Q: Can you talk about the work you do?
A: I could define my job in a few words. I would say that I do “value-based care.” By working with an Accountable Care Organization, I have learned the importance of providing the right nutrition care, at the right moment, and the correct cost. As part of the Care Coordination team, our primary goal is to meet all the patient’s needs as soon as possible, to achieve the best health outcomes. My team includes social workers, care managers, care coaches, skilled nurses, and medical providers. We focus on providing exceptional care, which helps Medicare beneficiaries decrease hospitalizations, readmissions, and unnecessary costs. When I think about giving the best level of care, that includes ensuring that my patients can benefit from my recommendations in the long-term. This may require me to conduct a home visit, educate the home-based provider and other caregivers, educate the patient at the grocery store, provide a personalized menu plan, contact the DME company that is delivering enteral support, touch-base with the nurse that is assisting my patient at the adult care center, refer my patient to a social worker or mental health support program, or partner with a local food bank to address food insecurity. I do a plethora of things that have one thing in common: adding value to my patient’s life, providing the best care and achieving exceptional health outcomes.
Q: What field of dietetics do you work in?
A: I can’t say that I only work in one field of dietetics. However, I mostly work as a clinical dietitian in the outpatient setting. I also do a lot of other community-oriented work. For instance, I provide nutrition education in a variety of group settings by participating in different activities where the community is involved, such as healthcare fairs, grocery store tours, school fairs, fundraising events, screening food insecurity in our patients and even partnering with local food banks to support them as needed. I also provide Care Coordination and Transitional Care Management to the social workers and skilled nurses that I work with at RGV ACO. Furthermore, in my job working with H-E-B, I still work as a clinical dietitian, but in a retail setting.
Q: What are some of your professional or career aspirations?
A: Well, I have achieved a lot during my last 20 years in the field. My next step is starting my private practice, where I will be doing much of what I do with RGV ACO but on my own. I will also get to work with other non-ACO medical providers that have heard about my job and have already asked to refer their patients to me. Besides this, I am on my way to becoming certified as a Gerontology specialist. I am also improving my social media skills to get better access to the “Spanish-speaking” population living in the Rio Grande Valley.
Q: Do you have any advanced education or special training?
A: Yes, I have a master’s degree in Clinical Nutrition and a master’s degree in Pediatric Clinical Nutrition. I am also a Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES). Even with all of my professional dietetic experience in Venezuela, the CDR did not allow me to become board certified until I had worked for at least two years as a registered dietitian in the U.S., so I waited. After I passed my CDR exam in July 2017, I started working and waited two more years to sit for my CDCES exam in October of last year. I will also be taking the Gerontology Specialty exam soon.
Q: How does your work impact the Latinx community?
A: I live and work near Mexico's border area, so I do see a vast Latinx community. Even though I am not Mexican and do not necessarily share the same culture, being a Spanish-speaking dietitian has allowed me to become more involved in Latinx community-related events. My patients love to have a dietitian who can speak their native language, which is also so warm-hearted and “cariñosa.” I am a Caribbean dietitian, which means that I love to “apapachar a mis viejitos.”
Q: In an ideal world, what would the role of RDs in the Latinx community look like?
A: As we know, the Latinx community is a very underserved group in this country. Even though it seems that there are many resources available for this population, the reality is that many have limited access to them. As RDs, we should speak out to our community leaders and let them know the impact that we can have in a usually low-income, undereducated, and underserved community. We need to help amplify the voices of those that have less access to resources for them to be able to lead a healthier lifestyle. We need to represent our community and advocate for their right to receive prompt access to nutrition services and resources.
Q: What interested you in becoming a member of LAHIDAN?
A: As a good Venezuelan, I am very family-oriented. Becoming a member of LAHIDAN has allowed me to find my “professional” family who shares similar cultural views and values. I love having the opportunity to meet so many great professionals with a lot in common with me: love and passion for what we do, but overall, love and compassion to serve others.