Kathleen Cusack

Meet Katie Cusack, a journalist and soon-to-be Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. 

In this Q&A, discover how Russell Sage College’s M.S. in Nutrition and Dietetics and Dietetic Internship are getting her ready for her new career. 

Nutrition is a career shift for you. Would you talk about that and what sparked your interest in nutrition?

It’s a big career shift, yes! I worked as an arts and music journalist at a local publication called The Collaborative Magazine for about four years. I was laid off during the pandemic and began working as a direct support professional at Living Resources, a disability services agency. 

I absolutely loved working in the arts field, particularly music. I think about starting my own publication every day, because I still believe journalism is vital, even if it’s really tough to make a living from it. I freelanced for as long as I could manage while working at Living Resources full time, which was my first entry into human services work. 

At Living Resources, I loved helping people reach their goals and live more independently. I also became medically certified and interested in the interactions between prescriptions and dietary intake. My role as a residential direct support professional involved a lot of meal planning for the week and collaborating with individuals on what they enjoyed eating and what healthier choices we could choose to meet the program meal guidelines, which was pretty much based on MyPlate [MyPlate is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s dietary guidelines.] I became really invested in those conversations, diving into the benefits of specific nutrients. My enthusiasm engaged the people I supported and made me curious about going back to school for nutrition. 

I left Living Resources when my mother went into hospice after fighting ovarian cancer for five years. I spent a lot of time going to appointments with her before that point and together we had always looked for ways to ease her symptoms through diet. This was definitely the larger motivator for me to pursue nutrition and dietetics. She always encouraged me to go back to school and really believed that it was a great fit for me — that I would make a good dietitian.  

What attracted you to Russell Sage College for your nutrition education?

I began looking into nutrition education programs while I was helping my mom, so I needed it to be somewhere close by. I live in Troy, so I was surprised to find an ACEND-certified school right down the street from me [a degree from an ACEND-accredited Didactic Program in Dietetics and participation in an ACEND-accredited Dietetic Internship is required to take the RDN credentialing exam.] 

I knew I needed to attend in-person classes, rather than primarily online coursework, to better absorb the content and interact with the professors, so Sage was a good fit. 

What classes, professors, or experiences from Sage have especially inspired you?

I’ve learned so much from Assistant Professor of Nutrition Martha Wasserbauer and Instructor of Nutrition Eileen Lindemann!

Because of the intimate size of the nutrition program there are really only a handful of professors, so you end up spending most of one semester or another with one of them. Eileen Lindemann has valuable community nutrition insight and was a huge part of the first half of my graduate program at Sage. I was honored to be a research assistant for Professor Lindemann in summer 2023 for her Ph.D. research, “Photovoice Exploration of Afghan Refugee Background Women’s Food-Related Well-Being.” It was such a rewarding experience, and I learned so much — not only about the research process, which was eye-opening, but also about a beautiful culture, language, and strong group of women. I would never have had an opportunity like that without Professor Lindemann and this program. 

Professor Wasserbauer was a major part of the second half of my graduate experience and is an excellent instructor as well as an endless well of helpful tips when it comes to working in a clinical setting. I’ve enjoyed taking metabolism and medical nutrition therapy classes with her. They’ve been my favorite classes in the DPD program [The Didactic Program in Dietetics, or DPD, is a sequence of courses that are required to participate in a Dietetic Internship and take the registration exam for the RDN credential.] 

It’s been great to learn about the specific experiences our professors have had as RDNs. It has helped me grasp what the job experience might be like in a variety of fields, including what kinds of challenges I might come across and how to tackle them. 

Assistant Professor of Nutrition Natalie Newmeyer-Blunden also shared valuable experiences working with renal and elderly patients. It’s nice to have someone who is teaching your coursework be able to teach you about what it’s like actually being on the job. 

Is there an area that you would like to specialize in once you become an RDN?

I’m looking forward to exploring different fields during the Dietetic Internship, especially clinical rotations. I’m interested in working in a specialized field such as renal, hepatology, pediatrics, or oncology. They all present very different challenges. 

However, I have the most experience in community nutrition. I currently work as a nutrition program specialist at the Alliance for Positive Health in Albany. I know I would do well in community nutrition because I enjoy working with people over a longer period of time to develop beneficial habits as well as sharing evidence-based information for people to eat for their best health or quality of life. 

I think community nutrition is invaluable because everyone deserves access to fresh and healthy food, and there are so many people in need of tangible resources that go beyond education. I enjoy working in a field where I can help combat food insecurity by providing access to fresh and healthy food on a regular basis.