Hosted by BDA Mental Health Specialist Group
A webinar for student dietitians that have an interest in working in the field of Mental Health dietetics.
Speakers
- Mrs Sian Taylor - Clinical Strategic lead dietitian CAMHS ABUHB & Chair ARFID subgroup
Bio: Sian is a clinical dietitian and strategic lead working within CAMHS with children and young people with disordered eating and eating disorders. She has recently supported the development of the ARFID team and patient pathway in ABUHB and chairs the BDA ARFID subgroup. She has been working with HEIW ( Health Education Improvement Wales) to look at ways to increase student placements in mental health and positive experiences of working with patients with MH difficulties in student placements. She teaches on the BDA practice supervision course and is keen to improve all dietitians knowledge and skills of mental health.
Session title: Driving clinical placements in Wales for Practice based learners
Session overview: Sian will share her experience of encouraging placements in MH services and particularly the work that has been happening in Wales for all AHP to encourage an increased awareness of MH. We will draw on the experience of one of our PBL to illustrate the value of a MH placement to learners whether you work in MH or not.
- Katie Coult - Community Dietitian @ Hywel Dda University Health Board & Events officer of MHSG
Bio: Katie is a community dietitian, who graduated last summer. She has an interest in mental health, CAMHS, and eating disorders. She completed all her placements in mental health settings across Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust, St Andrews Healthcare, Northampton, and Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust. Katie was runner-up for the BDA Student Champion of The Year Award and won the MHSG Student Award. More recently Katie has spoken at a Diversifying Dietetics Webinar on her experiences of Autism and Neurodiversity in placement and education.
Session title: Experiences on mental health placements as a student
Session overview: Katie will share her experiences on mental health placements including what her placements were like, how they have shaped her as a dietitian, and why she wants to have a career in MH dietetics
- Dr Cliona Brennan - Research Officer (BDA MHSG), Lecturer (MSc Dietetics, Kings College London), Team lead and specialist dietitian (MCCAED-START, South London and Maudsley NHS)
Bio: Dr Cliona Brennan is an Academic Education Pathway Lecturer in the Department of Nutritional Sciences, Kings College London. She is a registered dietitian and researcher with extensive experience in the field of eating disorders. She completed her PhD in 2024, her research interests centre on adolescent eating disorders, service evaluation and the integration of dietetic care within multidisciplinary teams.
Session title: The role of the dietitian in CAMHS eating disorders
Session overview: Cliona will discuss her role working in a community eating disorders team, highlighting core skills and experiences that are helpful for working in this speciality. She will provide insight into typical activities that dietitians become involved in, such as refeeding management, nutritional rehabilitation and liaison work across settings.
- Rouky Karim - Forensics Dietitian @ East London NHS Foundation Trust
Bio: A Band 6 Forensic Dietitian working across medium and low secure services in North East London. Specialising in nutritional and dietetic care within secure forensic mental health settings.
Session title: Working as a dietitian in forensic secure hospitals
Session Overview: Rouky will discuss what secure hospitals are, along with dietetic needs within forensic mental health settings. She will also discuss dietetic student placements in forensics including what to be aware of and how to prepare for placement.
- Steph Smith - Clinical Academic Dietitian and Chair of the BDA MHSG @ Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust and Teesside University & BDA Mental Health Specialist Group
Bio: Steph is a clinical academic dietitian with research interests in diet-related conditions and mental health. She works clinically within children and young people’s eating disorder services, alongside her academic role in research leadership. Within education, Steph has an interest in strengthening the integration of mental health within dietetic education and advancing practice-based learning opportunities in mental health settings. As Chair of the British Dietetic Association Mental Health Specialist Group, she works nationally to improve access to high-quality mental health education for dietitians both pre- and post-registration
Session title: How the Mental Health Specialist Group can Support you
Session overview: Steph will share an overview of how MHSG supports with dietetic practice based learning including why it matters to us as a group, what we’re doing and how you can get involved. You will leave with information on how to access resources to support you in succeeding during dietetic practice based learning within mental health, eating disorders and learning disabilities.
Webinar schedule
- Beginning/Intro by chair (Steph): 5 minutes
- Speaker 1 - Sian : 10 minutes
- Speaker 2 - Katie: 10 minutes
- Speaker 3 - Cliona: 10 minutes
- Sponsor talk: 10 minutes
- Speaker 4 - Rouky: 10 minutes
- Speaker 5 - Steph: 10 minutes
- Q&A: 25 mins
Cost
- Mental Health Specialist Group members - Free
- BDA student member - £5.00
- Dietetic student - £5.00
- BDA Member - £5.00
- Non member - £5.00
Admin code: SLA
