When you first meet Susan Brantley, you quickly discover how the role of dietitians is changing and how she serves as a role model for dietitians who strive to actively participate in their health teams.

Susan has been with University of Tennessee Medical Center throughout her professional career. She attended the University of Tennessee, where she received her undergraduate degree in dietetics through the CUP (Coordinated Undergraduate Program in Dietetics) program, as well as her master’s degree. After serving in four different departments, she joined the pharmacy department, where she now focuses on nutrition support for surgery and the intensive care unit.

“I spent a lot of time in the intensive care unit where I had a lot of mentors, from surgeons to anesthesiologists. They consistently encouraged me to join them on their rounds so I could learn how to be a more integral part of the healthcare team. After several years I found myself a part of that team, which was something I had always wanted,” commented Brantley.

Much has changed over the years and dietitians are more important than ever. Doctors entering the medical field today rely more on dietitians for nutritional support, as their own responsibilities are increasing. Patients are coming in sicker, which means nutrition is critical to the healing process. Proper nutrition alone can decrease the patient’s length of stay in a healthcare facility, which can decrease morbidity and mortality.

“As soon as a patient is stabilized, a good dietitian needs to be in the intensive care unit asking questions about when they can start feeding them,” says Brantley. “It is important to start enteral feeding within the first 48–72 hours. If the patient requires parenteral feeding, the dietitian should start thinking about how to get them transitioned to enteral feeding.”

One of Susan’s goals at University of Tennessee Medical Center is to teach every resident three things: first, that wherever they go, there will be a dietitian who is well educated in nutritional support; second, always to ask the dietitian for input and allow the dietitian to actively participate within the healthcare team; and third, to respect the dietitian’s expertise.

“I don’t believe in being static—I’ve never liked that,” Brantley said. “University of Tennessee Medical Center has been really good to me because they have given me the opportunity to be a part of several different departments as well as look into new ways for implementing nutrition support.” While serving as DNS Chair for the past year, Susan continued her role as a champion for dietitians by focusing on the following initiatives:

• Promoting the acceptance of the dietitian’s role as an advisor, not only to the public but also to medical professionals


• Increasing recognition of dietitians as the nutrition experts beyond the ADA—among critical care medicine and surgical associations as well as A.S.P.E.N.


• Working with the ADA to provide input on the training guidelines for dietetics to ensure that students receive adequate knowledge in nutrition support to be confident in their role

Last year Susan was recognized by the ADA for her leadership within the association by receiving the American Dietetic Association Foundation Award for Excellence in the Practice of Clinical Nutrition.