Latest / Nutrition Connection by Dr. Kristen Hicks-Roof / 77: Kaylyn Koons MS, RD, LDN - PHD STUDENT / NEURO NUTRITION
Transcript
- Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: Welcome back to the Nutrition Connection Podcast, the show where science meets storytelling. I'm your host, Dr. Kristen Hicksroof, dietitian, researcher, and lifelong advocate of the role of nutrition, health, and wellness. Each episode, I sit down with dietitians and nutrition experts all across the food and healthcare landscape, leaders whose work touches nearly every aspect of our lives. The views, thoughts, and comments on this podcast do not reflect those of my employer nor the employers of my guests. So let's go ahead and get connected. Y'all, today's guest, we had this crazy synergy before we came on. We both lived or lived near Northeast Florida. So it's really cool to bring her on. We have Kaylin Coons. She's an outpatient dietitian at Norman Fixel Institute of Neurological Diseases at UF Health, as well as a PhD student in nutrition at University of Florida. Welcome to the show, Kaitlin. Kaylyn Koons: Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be on. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: So I was stoked to bring you on because I've had some requests lately of people saying, we want to know more about neuro and cognition. And I was like, well, you're the best of both worlds. You're a practicing dietitian and you're doing your PhD in this arena. And you'll talk a lot Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: more about it, but we'll dive deeper into that. But let's get going right from the beginning. And what really inspired you and made you want to go into the nutrition field? Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's a great question. So I grew up in a healthcare family. So my dad's a physician, my mom's a nurse, and so it felt like every single conversation or every other conversation was like talking about helping people, healthcare, and all of that. And so I always knew, you know, especially going through high school, going through college, I wanted to be in a healthcare profession. I originally was pre-med and then that dream kind of died and and then I discovered dietetics. I feel like that's a lot of dietitians, but I love it. And yeah, so it really was my parents that really inspired me to get into this field. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: Was it the like patient care, the nurturing that inspired you, or the science side? I mean, the fact that you're Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: going a PhD, I don't know. Does that stem from that too? Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Yeah. So yes to kind of both. So I I like to joke with my dad. I'm like, you're you're such a show off. You did your PhD and your MD. Cause so that kind of inspired me to do my PhD, is that and I love like the critical thinking aspect of it. And so I and I also really enjoy kind of learning the bare bones of nutrition. And so that's kind of like the my why behind the PhD. But Yeah, with healthcare it's just I love helping people and like making or you know, growing up seeing the impact that my parents had on people was just like it was it was so fascinating and it's was just so inspiring. Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: I love that. So I have a a children's book I read to my kids all the time. And it walks through all the health professions. Yes, I'm a nerd. It walks through all the health professions and it talks about how they help people. So it's like, Kaylyn Koons: Yeah yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: I'm an optometrist. Here's how I help with their eyes. I'm a physical therapist. Kaylyn Koons: No yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: Here's how I help with, you know, and they're always like, doctor. And you know, they know things. Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: I'm like, why is there not a dietitian on there? I wish there was. Maybe we need to rewrite the book. Okay, anyways. Kaylyn Koons: I know, I know. Yes. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: Let's dive a little deeper. So you decided you wanted to go into nutrition. Talk a little bit about your career journey. So what roles have you had? I know you're still early in your career, but what roles have you had to ultimately get you now as both outpatient dietitian and PhD student? Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. so during my bachelor's degree, so I went to Ohio State. while I was there, I had an on-campus job and I was administrative assistant for dining services. And so this was actually a really fun job. I loved it. and so basically what my job kind of entailed was I went to different dining locations and I kind of pretended I had an allergy and I basically was I honestly kind of was like a spy. and I was making sure that they did all of the allergen protocol correctly. And so that kind of really got well, this was my bachelor's, so got me kind of into the nutrition field, and I was involved with that for like two years. yeah, so that was like my first job that was nutrition related. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: And then it reminded me, so when you said like I was like a spy, I used to be a mystery shopper. That's actually what got me through my dietetic internship. I can't tell you the amount of times I have mystery shopped little Caesars. I was like, if Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: I have to eat this pizza one more time, I'm gonna die, but it got me through. So Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Yeah. I felt so bad for like all of the dining locations. I was like, I don't mean to rat you guys out, but like people have allergies. Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: Right, exactly. You need almost that validation. And it's it's a fun job in a way, but it's also, yeah, you do feel bad Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: when you catch them doing not the right things. But you know, sometimes people have to be corrected in the real time. So what Kaylyn Koons: Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: other positions have you had when you finished all your schooling? Did you go straight to your masters or did you have you had what other c roles have you had before you became an outpatient Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: dietitian? Kaylyn Koons: So I had that one position at Ohio State. I have worked in like the gym space. So I worked at an Orange Theory. I was like a sales associate. I have worked as a yoga instructor. while I was in my masters, I received kind of a a s student assistantship to be part of research. And so that really kind of Allowed me to explore research a little bit before I was a PhD student. And luckily it was paid. And so I and that's why like, you know, they say, you know, PhD's school, but it I honestly I don't see it as that because it's like I I love it so much. And so, anyways, yeah, so I was doing that during my master's, and that was kind of like a job in a sense, but a lot of different things. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: Yeah. So how do you balance now? Like what does your day-to-day look like? Maybe talk first about the outpatient work you do with the Neurological Disease Institute, and then we'll dive a little deeper on the PhD side. Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. So my week is I have one week day of the week where I'm working in clinic with patients and then the rest of the week I am on campus. you know, I have one class a semester and then I'm also working on research projects. And so my day where I'm seeing patients, I am I typically see patients for an hour and I have, you know, about seven slots throughout the day. so working with patients and see so many different things, which is why I really love Neuro. but yeah, the rest of the week is kind of, you know, I mean you did your PhD, so you kind of understand it's like kind of whatever is you're working on and whatever moment, you know, a bunch of meetings, working on different projects. So that's another reason why I love it is like there's no like there yes, there's a schedule, but it's very flexible. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: Yeah, I did something very similar. I was a corporate dietitian and a PRN clinical dietitian when I Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: was a PhD student, really because I had to get out of the lab. I was like, I cannot look. I mean, my first two years of my PhD, I was in a rat gut microbiome lab, which Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: I loved it, but I could not talk to pipettes as well as I needed Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: human interaction. and so that you're right, it is a little bit of a balance. So how did you get into this? Neuroside. I mean, I feel like it's almost a niche within that. Did you have any Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: experience in the neuro before you got that clinical role? Kaylyn Koons: No, not really. I did have, you know, my grandparents, they or two of my four grandparents had neurological diseases. So, you know, growing up I kind of had that, you know, exposure to it. But other than that, no, I hadn't really previously learned about neuronutrition or anything related to that. Cause it's so new and that's why I really love it because It's such a newer field that we're constantly learning and adapting and you know, going with the flow is what I like to say. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: When the science is changing so much, especially with this huge push on longevity. Well, neuro is a critical component to longevity. If your body does well, great. But if you don't have Kaylyn Koons: Right. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: a, you know, brain and whole system function on the neuroside, then do you really want a capable body without a capable mind? I've I've always questioned that, right? Like how what Kaylyn Koons: Right. Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: goes first. But so talk to me a little bit about the PhD work for people who Kaylyn Koons: It's not. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: Maybe are interested in PhD, what year are you? What Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: kind of what is your week to week look like? and how Kaylyn Koons: yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: did you decide what your research area in particular is gonna be? Kaylyn Koons: Yeah, so I'll start with like kind of what my week to week looks like. So right now I just started on a new research project. It's not in the neurofield, but you know, my supervisor got a grant. And so you know how it goes. yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I've been working on that. Yeah, Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: yeah. You do what you have to do as well as what you have to do. Kaylyn Koons: exactly. And so We have been working on that recently and right now it's kind of like in the pre-submission stage. And so with this project, it is working with cancer patients. And we are yeah, really just like doing all of the organizational work before we submit to the IRB, so the institutional review board, where they can tell us, you know, all of the details that we you we might have messed up in the submission process, then we fix and then we do the intervention. So that's where we're kind of at right now. I am entering my second year of my PhD. And so I'm almost done with my coursework. I have one or this semester I have a class and then spring semester I'll I'll have a class. But after that, I'm done with coursework or the mandatory group coursework. and yeah, I forgot what your final question was, but Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: What what do you and you may be a little too early, what do you think your kind of main research project is gonna be in your PhD? Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's a great question. So yeah, like you mentioned, because I'm entering my second year, we're still kind of figuring that out. It will likely be something a nutrition intervention for a neurological disease population. So that sounds very, like very vague, I know, but we're still kind of working through things. So we'll see. my assistantship to previous dietitians, Carly. Roosh, I might have said her last name wrong, Rush. she's awesome. She works at Abbott now, but she did hers in Parkinson's disease and they did a Mediterranean diet intervention. And then Matt Beek or Beck. I'm sorry if they're listening and I completely butchered their names. but he did fiber supplementation for those with Parkinson's disease because constipation is a non-motor symptom of the disease. And so those were the Two previous individuals who did the same kind of program slash assistantship that I'm currently doing. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: You know, and I've I've given actually several talks over the years, both at Fenty and today's dietitian and otherwise, about like how do you s decide where you wanna do a PhD, if you wanna do a PhD, do you wanna do a PhD or a DCN? I mean, there's so many factors that come into it. You know, whether it's the PI, you really wanna do research in that lab. That may be the Kaylyn Koons: Right. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: weighting factor, it may be cost of the program, it may be length of the program. Proximity. I mean, there's so many factors. So what was the driver for you at UF? Was it just going home? Was it Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: the neuroside of it? Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's a great question. A big proportion was going home. so as I've kind of mentioned, I went to Ohio State for my bachelor's degree. And at the time, you know, I they had just made the requirement to get your master's degree to become a dietitian. And so I was like, Okay, I'll apply to a couple schools, see what happens, but I really want to go to UF. And luckily I did get in, and you know Like I mentioned, my family's here. And so being close to family as you're going through a really difficult graduate program, it has been, you know, the world. Having their support has been so nice. And I wouldn't trade it for the world. And so, you know, when I finished the master's program, I was like, Well, I really want to stay at UF for the PhD too, because I've already developed such great relationships with all the faculty. You know, I know everyone super well. Like I love Gainesville itself. And so when I got in, I was like, that's that's great. I'm I'm I love it. So yeah, that was my biggest motivator. But like as you said, there's so many different ways and things to consider when you're applying to a PhD program. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: When you touch on something that's so important, I mean, the mental health side of going and pursuing a doctoral degree, no matter what type of doctoral degree you go for, it's serious. I mean, it really is mentally, physically, and emotionally challenging to go through that type of program. So for you, the driver is not only location, but support systems. So if you're Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: contemplating, if you're listening, then you're like, Do I want to do a doctoral degree? Write it out. Write what are things that are important to you? What would make you succeed? And then triangulate that with does a program check all those boxes? and that's different for everyone. So I I really like that you talked about that because let me tell you, I had some mental health challenges in my PhD. It was Kaylyn Koons: Yeah, yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: so taxing. But I'm better on the other side. During it was pretty rough, but I'm better on the other side. So, Caitlin, let's Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: talk a little bit about. Scientific evidence and data. I mean, you Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: have not only your practicing role, but then going through this rigorous program. How does Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: science and data integrate in your day-to-day? Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. I then that's why I love being at UF while I'm practicing because it is an academic institution and you know everyone is really grounded by okay, evidence-based practice. You know, it's like we're not practicing off of anecdotal stuff over here. And so, you know, really coming up with what is the latest research in this area. for where I practice, we do see a lot of rarer diseases. And so sometimes it's like you gotta I don't I don't know. You gotta kind of figure things out without that without as much research in that area. But I do I do think that's what it makes it interesting. and yeah, yeah. And so definitely using data and research is very, very important, especially with, you know, being in this population, and being at an academic institution. Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: When as we said, I mean the science is changing so much, especially in the neurofield. I remember Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: dating myself a little bit, I mean, ten years ago plus, I used to work at behavioral health. And that was really tricky because you're right, we didn't have a lot of nutrition-specific guidance for things like schizophrenia, ADHD. There were speculations and there was some association, Kaylyn Koons: Right. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: but you didn't have a lot of clinical evidence. And I mean I haven't read the literature on some of those things. I'm sure it's advanced somewhat, but you are in a lot of nuance in the gray space, especially when you think about Kaylyn Koons: Yeah, yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: aging and Alzheimer's. I mean, we have come such a long way and still have a long way to go. Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: so I do think it's exciting that you're on an you're in an emerging field of the neuroside. can't wait to see what you ultimately come up with for your PhD project, which is it's Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. I know I'm excited. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: such a hard Thing to narrow down because one, it also depends on who your PI is, what their research area is. Do they have any money? Because I remember going in as a green PhD student, like, I want to do this. And she was like, Cool. One, not aligned with my research area. Two, I have no funding for it. So, like, if you could fix those things, and so I was really grounded, like, Kaylyn Koons: Yeah, mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: okay, I didn't know. No one had guided me or mentored me in that space. So Kaylyn Koons: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: So Caitlin, what has been your favorite? Like what are you most proud of so far in your career? Kaylyn Koons: that's a great question. and like I'm I don't know if like like I'm so new in this field. It's like I mean, I've I'm just proud to like wake up and, you know, be a student at UF and like be able to go and practice as a dietitian where I do practice. And so I don't know if there's like one thing that I can necessarily say. It's like, I'm so proud of this. It's just like I honestly feel so much gratitude. you know, just doing what I do. And so I I guess that's, you know what I'm proud of in a sense. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: I love that. It there's a meme out there. I'm in a lot of mom's groups, and there was Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: a meme out there with Snoop Dogg, and he's like, I'm proud of being me. And I was like, Kaylyn Koons: Yeah, yeah, exactly. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: You're right. Like, you wake up, you get the kids to school, you Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: you work full time, you take the kids home, you go to activities, you're managing the house. Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: Like, it's okay to just be proud of where you're at and not necessarily Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: this like massive, quote unquote massive accomplishment or accolade or whatever. Kaylyn Koons: Right, right, yeah, yeah, mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: and hopefully the future has big bright path ahead of you. so what tips, advice, suggestions would you give to someone who's maybe interested in going down the PhD route? How did Kaylyn Koons: Yeah, yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: you make that decision? and what what advice would you give them? Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. So I would say, you know, especially if you are in your bachelor's degree, trying to get involved with research on campus, that was something that I did. I was involved with Dr. Bruno's lab at Ohio State, and I loved it. I thought it was so fun. he had a research project that looked at green tea and I cooked jello. That was my job. as about as an undergrad student, but you know, having those experiences and you know staying involved with that one lab for an extended period of time so you can kind of work on different projects with that PI or the other graduate students is what I really recommend. And if you are okay with kind of doing those mundane tasks like cooking jello on the day to day I think that, you know, research might be for you because research has so many different areas. You kind of have to be okay with doing boring stuff a good proportion of the time. And you know, every once in a while you have something where it's like, my gosh, like I got this presentation, like I got this podcast, like all these other things where, you know, you have that kind of flow, ebb and flow of things. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: Yeah, I in my academic life, I at one point had twenty-five undergraduate research assistants under me. And so thank you for cooking the jello. I mean, thank you. Because you're Kaylyn Koons: I I loved it. I loved it. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: right, like sometimes it is really exciting work, right? Like you're doing the intervention, you're working with patients, or whatever the intervention might be. and other times you're just working on the IRB or the marketing or the logistics Kaylyn Koons: Right. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: or, you know, there's so many behind the scenes effort that go into facilitation of research. And it doesn't matter what type of lab you're in. I mean, you may be in a bench science lab where you are pipetting till your thumb hurts. You may be in a community lab where you're doing community interventions and you're developing educational content and marketing programs and, you know, evaluation surveys. You may be in Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: clinical research where you kind of are doing a little bit of everything. Right. And so I think they're if you're intimidated by the research, go be part of it. Because you Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: really your eyes get opened up to the intricacies and the time that it takes to be able Kaylyn Koons: Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: to conduct really good research. And you know, I also, similar to you, I started doing research in my undergrad. Y'all, let me tell you, I was in a chicken lab. Well, was in many different labs in my undergrad, but one of mine, I was in a chicken lab. Cause I had a Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: I have a degree in nutrition and microbiology in my undergrad. And I had to ch I had to feed these chickens every day, number one, because we were looking at dietary intervention. Number two, Kaylyn Koons: Uh-huh. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: I had to chase the chickens down when we had to terminate them. I had to run across the yard trying to catch them, which was awful. You know, chickens move really fast, their wings fly. I I would never Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: work in a chicken lab again. And then we ultimately had to, you know, terminate them and we were looking Their gut microbiome to see if the dietary intervention would help on the food safety side. Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: But wow, did it give me so much more of an appreciation beyond a publication? I think sometimes Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: when we as clinicians read a paper, you're like, is that even valuable? Or like so easy. Kaylyn Koons: Yeah, it's so easy to pick it apart and you're like, they should have done that. Like, come on. But it's like when you're actually doing it, it's, you know, a lot of work. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: Right. It's a lot of work. So I always encourage people. I remember when I was faculty, every class I took, when I took when I taught a research methods class, they had to participate in research. so Kaylyn Koons: Mm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: I challenge you if you are near an academic institution, be in a research study. If you're a student, get involved in research one way or another. because you never know, may open your doors. Like it did for Kaelin and I. We both got the Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: The bug to do research and now, you know, PhD Kaylyn Koons: No. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: routes. So I think that's really good advice there. So final question as we wrap up here. If you had a crystal ball, what do you think is coming next to nutrition? Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. I know when you sent me that question, I was like, I'm excited to answer that. And I was like, I don't really know what I'm gonna say. But I guess like, you know, one thing that I'm really passionate about is, you know, really pushing to expand reimbursement for dietitians and insurance reimbursement for dietitians because you know, the that is only going to further demonstrate You know, how you know, you know, if dietitians aren't going to be paid well or reimbursed with insurance, what's the point of becoming a dietitian or someone that, you know, is working in primarily the healthcare space and not like in the research space? And so that's something that I'm very passionate about. And with my role in the North Florida Academy, I'm currently the president, but we're the Florida Academy is working towards building a new bill. where we're entering gosh, now I'm gonna butcher that. But it's like we're entering a licensure compact where we can hopefully expand our services and join other states in this kind of compact. But you know, hopefully, you know, more insurance coverage can really demonstrate the value of dietitians in healthcare. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: I'm so stoked you brought the licensure compact up because you're my first person and I nerd out. I read probably more than 90% of people would ever want to read about random crap, and this is one of them. Okay, so licensure compact, if you don't know Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. So you know, you know. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: what it is, there's many states involved. There's over 10 states that have signed on to the licensure compact, and Florida is one of them that is trying to get in there. And Florida is a really unique case, and I only tell you this because I lived in Northeast Florida and participated and we had a really active policy side because the Florida State Licensure has been challenged many, many times over the last several decades. you go back to Judy Rodriguez and Kathy Christie, who have been fighting this battle for years. Lori Wright, I mean, you have champions in the space. Lucille Bessler, I mean, just you have so many champions in the space. But if Florida is able to join the licensure compact. That would allow for Florida providers to not only serve their populations in Florida, but they could also help to to practice at any of the other states that are part of the compact. So you think about this with the future of telehealth or whatever that may look like, when we have this licensure compact, we will allow more practitioners to practice in more states without having to go through a bunch of hoops and all of that. So While I'm no expert in it, maybe I need to get someone on who can talk about that. Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: I think that's really important. And, you know, Caitlin, as I like weave in your neurologic side of both your PhD and your practicing, what you know, what would that look like? What do you think with Medicare and Medicaid? Like, what if we had Alzheimer's covered with nutrition treatments, right? Like, or Parkinson's, and maybe there are some. Kaylyn Koons: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: To my knowledge, it's renal and diabetes. Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: but yeah, I would love to w how like your crystal ball. What do you envision? What do you think should be covered? Kaylyn Koons: I mean, I think anyone could really benefit from seeing a dietitian. I I don't think that we should have to wait to have a disease to see a dietitian and like have that covered by insurance. I I think that, you know, and that's why I really got into nutrition because, you know, I saw my dad as a physician working with patients who already had a disease, and I was like, I want to be the type of person that is helping those so they don't end up getting cardiovascular disease, renal disease, diabetes, X, Y, and Z. And so that's like where I'm like the most passionate. It's like nutrition is preventative health, as well as it is, you know, it can be alongside medicine too. And so that's where I think it could serve the most benefit, is for those that, you know, maybe are pre-diabetic and you know, really if they made nutrition changes or lifestyle changes, they won't get diabetes. They won't end up developing chronic kidney disease. So that's that's kind of what I think. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: I love that. I mean, what if, right? We're just like postulating here. What if all Medicare patients, by the time they turn 65, every year they have to have a consult with a dietitian? Like you just Kaylyn Koons: Mm. Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: think about that. That could be malnutrition, you know, things like chronic disease. It could just be food affordability, access, cooking techniques. I mean, there's the list can go on and on. So Kaylyn Koons: Yeah, yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: I say we put that into whatever aura is out there and you're like, come on, let's get more of that. Kaylyn Koons: You know, I know. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: Cause I agree with you. I would love to see more preventive services covered as well as more services covered for medical nutrition therapy. And really Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: the only way we can get there is a rising tide's gonna lift all boats, right? Like we have to have Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: more dietitians involved in policy and advocacy to be Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: able to say, hey, we need this, rather than sitting back and being like, man, I wish we had that. Kaylyn Koons: Right. Yeah. Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: Get involved. Go to your state. Go to your, you know, local chapter. Go to the academy. Go whatever entity Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: you want to work with, whether you're a member or not, just tell them and get involved. So I love that Kaylyn Koons: Yeah. Yeah. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: final send-off there, Kaylin, about like, yeah, let's Kaylyn Koons: Yay. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: get involved. Let's make nutrition a part of more services for more people more often. I think that's awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on the show and telling your story and really walking through good luck as you move along and go through your PhD. I know people are gonna Kaylyn Koons: Thank you. Thank you. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: be inspired as they've may be contemplating going that doctoral route. So I appreciate that. If you Yeah, it Kaylyn Koons: Mm. You all should. I highly recommend it. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: trust me, I've advocated it for years and you know, it's not for everyone, but I do think it is a great way to open up career expansion. Kaylyn Koons: Yes, a hundred percent. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: And to move up the career ladder if that's something that's important to you. Kaylyn Koons: Mm-hmm. Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RD: so if you like the show, make sure you like, subscribe, leave a review, but most importantly, check out the next episode because every episode I bring out a different dietitian and nutrition expert to share their story and give you tips and advice on how to be successful.