Our Renal Dietitian’s Path to Her Dream Job
When Julie Morgan graduated from college, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. “I didn’t know what my calling was, so I asked myself, ‘What do you really care about? How do you want to make the world a better place?’” she recalls. Working in advertising at the time, Morgan knew she needed a career change.
Joining the “Gold Standard”
Morgan decided to become a dietitian after realizing she wanted to combine her passion for wellness with her desire to help others. She had to go back to school and start from “square one.” With a specific goal in mind, Morgan found the experience meaningful and enjoyed the people she met along the way.
Morgan didn’t know she wanted to pursue a career as a renal dietitian (RD) until she began learning more about the kidneys once she was back in school. She remembers feeling intrigued by the organs and also perplexed that many people don’t know much about renal health. “I felt that as a dietitian I could make a real impact on people living with kidney disease, and the best way to do that was to get directly involved,” she says. That’s when Morgan decided she wanted to teach patients living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) on what their best diet looks like.
After finishing school, Morgan started working at a nursing home but kept her sights on working with Fresenius Medical Care. “Fresenius Medical Care is the gold standard in dialysis, and I aspired to work here one day,” she says.
She reached her goal close to seven years ago when one of our dialysis centers outside of New York City hired her. There she began providing patients with nutrition assessments, identifying ones who could benefit from additional resources, monitoring their adherence to nutrition therapy, and more.
Morgan, who now works at a center in Albany, New York, says our network of kidney care professionals, endless resources, and programs remind her why she aspired to work for Fresenius Medical Care in the first place.
Morgan has also enjoyed her own professional growth — something she credits to how we value the well-being of our employees. “What I like about working here is that my center team is almost like family and we’re all working toward the same goal — to help our patients have more fulfilling lives,” Morgan says. This culture combined with our passionate employees helps people living with CKD live their best life.
The Personal Impact
Morgan has experienced professional highs since becoming an RD at Fresenius Medical Care, including when she and the care team she’s part of helped care for a pregnant patient. Morgan and the care team had to reestablish what her weight should be as the pregnancy progressed, manage her increased blood volume, and determine how to regulate her blood pressure. They were able to overcome the challenges this situation presented. “She had a healthy baby at 36 weeks,” Morgan says. “She’s still a patient here, and her daughter is now almost five.”
As significant as that was, it’s what Morgan experiences on a day-to-day basis that makes her love her job. “I’ve had my moments with patients when they say to me, ‘I appreciate seeing you at every treatment. It makes me feel better when you come by just to chat and say hello.’ These relationships are a rewarding part of my job,” she says.
Morgan values how her patients help her get out of her comfort zone. “You can think that you’re empathetic until you truly put yourself in the shoes of someone on dialysis,” she says. “Even though I see my patients every day, sometimes I take a step back and remind myself of what they go through on a day-to-day basis.”
Are you interested in joining Julie and our passionate care team? Explore the possibilities here.
