🛠️ Chapter 4: Relevance to Practice

26 4.2: Dietetic Socialization

The Dietitian Mentorship Program (DMP) plays an essential role in helping students and new graduates transition into professional roles by focusing on essential skills like resume building, interview preparation, and exam strategies.

It is important to address the systemic barriers Black people face in dietetics. Mentorship should challenge Eurocentric models, promote cultural competency, and support racialized individuals to ensure diversity in nutrition education and practice.

Video 4.3: Founder of the Dietetic Mentorship Program, Savannah Black from Ontario, discusses the importance of belonging in the dietetics profession. Black emphasizes how the program aims to create a supportive environment for racialized individuals, helping them overcome systemic barriers and feel valued in their professional journey.


Dietetics Mentorship Program Logo

Keywords: Belonging

“Because we are socialized in the program to be a certain way, being disruptive is really, really hard and going against maybe what you’ve been taught even if it contradicts your experience is very hard and so, my encouragement is to reflect deeply and to stay true to what it is your experience has been.” — Natalie Riediger

Video 4.4:Members of the Racism in Dietetics Research team, Eric Ng from Ontario and Natalie Riediger from Manitoba, discuss the impact of systemic and institutional racism on how Black students and dietitians are socialized within the dietetic field.

Keywords: Cultural Assimilation, Safe Space, Socialization.

Stop and Reflect: Creating Safe Spaces

How would you know if you provide or have the capacity to offer a safe space for students, particularly Black students? Does your practice, classroom, or institution create opportunities for Black students to freely and safely comment and provide recommendations that prompt you to further develop your skills in these areas? How can you create this opportunity?

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License

An Introduction to Anti-Black Racism in Canadian Nutrition, Food & Dietetics Copyright © 2026 by Mikahelia Wellington; Sherana Syed; and Emanuel Tessema. All Rights Reserved.

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