This month, we interviewed
Christopher Barrett, Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist from the Sports
Performance Institute of Nutrition at Yale New Haven Hospital. Chris provides nutrition counseling to high
school athletes in a variety of sports. His job duties include the following:
- Providing nutrition counseling to analyze
dietary practices of athletes for performance and health
- Providing individualized nutrition counseling
for athletes on optimal nutrition for exercise training in relation to
periodization phase
- Enhancing nutrition to improve competition,
recover from exercise, supplementation, and promote weight management and
hydration
- Specializing in hydration protocols for
marathon runners to meet fluid and carbohydrate needs to enhance performance
- Addressing nutritional challenges of
performance (i.e. food allergies)
- Conducting nutrition education presentations
for teams, coaches, and similar groups
- Developing the Sports Performance Institute of
Nutrition at Yale New Haven Hospital
1.
What
is your educational background and how long have you been an RD? Do you have
any additional credentials relevant to your position?
I have a bachelor’s degree from Sacred
Heart University in Exercise Science. I earned my master’s degree from the
University of New Haven and went on to pursue my RD credentials after
completing the dietetic internship at Yale New Haven Hospital. I have been an
RD since 2015 and currently possess a certificate from the National Strength
and Conditioning Association (NSCA) as a Certified Strength and Conditioning
Specialist (CSCS).
While completing my undergraduate and
graduate coursework, I worked as a strength and conditioning coach. I worked
primarily with high school athletes with aspirations of a Division I
scholarship as well as college athletes looking to establish a professional
career
2.
How
did you achieve your position/how did you get started with your current
position?
I was very fortunate as Kevin Gendron, the
owner of Better Athletic Development
in Shelton, CT, knew I was pursuing a career to become a registered dietitian.
He allowed me to present to groups of high school athletes as well as work
one-on-one with others to assist with their sports nutrition goals. At this
time, I was working part-time as a cross country coach at a local private
school and began assisting athletes with nutrition-related questions, which
eventually led to individual nutrition consultations, too.
I was hired directly out of the dietetic
internship in the outpatient sector of Yale New Haven Hospital. Since then, I
have ambitiously started the Sports Performance Institute of Nutrition at Yale
New Haven Hospital.
3.
What
key areas of knowledge/experiences did you need to have before this job?
It was very beneficial to have completed
by bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science and prior experience competing in
sports. It is a true blend of evidence-based medicine and practical knowledge.
This combination provided a solid foundation to translate complex information
to digestible and useful information for athletes striving for their athletic
potential and aspirations.
4.
What
are the highs and lows of your position?
The highs of my position are when you see
an athlete successfully reach a goal they have been striving for – earning a
Division I scholarship, making the varsity team as a freshman, achieving a
personal best, etc. Another high is when you see an athlete truly buy into the
process and it leads to them obtaining sustainable nutrition practices. The
lows are when you see an athlete unable to compete for some unjust reason such
as an injury.
5.
What
is a typical day for you?
My days vary greatly based on the clients
I meet as well as the location in which I am working. With individual
consultations, I typically meet with athletes following school and occasionally
after practice.
When at Yale New Haven Hospital, my day
starts much earlier (~7:00AM) and ends around 5 or 6 PM. I work one-on-one with
patients for a variety of illnesses as well as athletes looking to improve
performance. When the time allows, I continue to try and grow the Sports
Performance Institute of Nutrition at Yale New Haven Hospital. There I complete
presentations at various local high schools and fitness facilities in
Connecticut.
6.
What
advice would you share with an RD (or RD2Be) who is interested in a similar
career path?
For RDs2Be – If you are looking to
accelerate your growth in the field during the internship, you must change the
way you look at feedback. It is going to be extremely difficult to become the
best dietitian you can be without healthy relationship with feedback. There is
a major difference between constructive feedback and negativity. Constructive
feedback is far from negative, but it can assist in bringing out the best in
you.
For RDs and RDs2Be – I would never
overlook the importance of building rapport with your client. As a preceptor, I
notice this is typically overlooked by many dietetic interns. There is an old
saying in coaching, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how
much you care”. To be clear, this does not mean that you don’t need nutritional
knowledge. I would categorize myself as a relationship-based dietitian/coach.
My nutrition information is only useful if the athlete trusts me and knows how
much I value their commitment to the process. When you build rapport with a
client, you begin the process of building trust. Once trust is built with your
patient, you will notice an increase of commitment in the nutrition program
7.
What
are some of your interests outside of work?
If you were to ask my closest friends and
family members, many would probably describe me as very driven. Some would
probably even say that I don’t have many things that I focus on beyond my job
and the athletes I coach. Yet, one of my true passions is endurance sports,
specifically distance running. I have completed 4 marathons: New York Marathon
(2015), Boston Marathon (2011), and Hartford Marathon (2006, 2009), with a
personal best of 2:48 at the 2011 Boston Marathon.
8.
Why
have you decided to work with athletes or similar groups?
I decided to work with athletes because I
feel I can “speak their language.” This is critical because translating textbook
knowledge into practical and useful information is an effective way to educate why certain implementation strategies
are made. However, speaking to athletes from an athletic standpoint is critical
too. Coming from a competitive running career, you can understand the psyche of
what it takes to strive for your personal best. This is why I decided to work
with athletes.
9.
How do
you deal with the daily stresses presented to you in your career?
Daily stresses are always going to be
there, so I deal with them similarly to the ups and downs experienced during my
competitive running races – being present in the moment and controlling what I
can control. During these moments of stress, I will constantly remind myself
why I wanted to be a dietitian, and that is to help as many people as possible,
so they can become the best versions of themselves.
10. Prior to getting your credentials, did you
have any experience in nutrition (i.e. foodservice, volunteering, etc.)?
Yes, I have always loved to serve others.
While attending IONA College, I would complete “Midnight Runs”. A group of IONA
college students as well as a few Christian brothers would collect canned goods
and clothing and prepare sandwiches for the homeless in New York City. I never
felt more fulfilled than after these events which led me to the profession of
nutrition and dietetics where I get to assist others every day.
11. What do you love about your career/job?
I am
truly fortunate that I love my profession. I specifically love the outpatient
section of the dietetics profession based on the extended follow-up with
patients/clients/athletes. To this day, I still speak with many athletes I have
worked with many years ago and attend their sporting events. The part I love
about the profession, specifically working with high school athletes, is the
impact you can have on them for the rest of their lives through sports and
nutrition. This impact instills habits to become the best versions of themselves.
It is tremendously rewarding to see the values they have gained through
nutritional counseling translate into other aspects of their lives. In
addition, when you see them pass on their knowledge to teammates and others,
that is the true reward and what I love about my career. 