Megan Wroe is a Mother, Dietitian, and a Wellness Manager at the St. Jude Wellness Center. Some may say that she has a very full plate, but despite her busy schedule, she has found time to pursue her passion of helping others enhance their overall health through food. One of Megan’s favorite aspects of being a Dietitian is teaching people how to make healthy food taste good. When she sees her clients get excited about adding healthy alternatives into their daily cooking, she knows they are on track to pursuing a healthier lifestyle. 

Megan was inspired to become a Dietitian after her sister was diagnosed with type one diabetes. Prior to attending various appointments with her sister, Megan had no idea how large of an impact one’s diet could have on their overall health. Because Megan’s first encounter with a Dietitian was from a diabetes and metabolic disease perspective, this has shaped her practice into a more lifestyle focused approach. Seeing a Dietitian is not just for those who are overweight, many people could benefit from developing nutrition practices that support healthy organ function. 

Throughout our interview with Megan, we had the opportunity to ask her a few questions. These were some of our favorite responses. 

What do you define as eating health?

“My definition of healthy is eating so that your body actually feels good. That’s healthy eating because someone with kidney disease has a very different idea of what healthy eating is versus someone who maybe has crohn’s disease or celiac disease.” – Megan Wroe

What are some tips for eating healthy?

“Eating healthy starts with real food. Anything you make from scratch at home will be healthier than going out or taking out.” – Megan Wroe

What is one of your favorite recipes? 

Dark Chocolate Cashew Tart by Lily Nichols

What do you believe is the first step in pursuing a healthier lifestyle?

“Start with a journal. Write things down, it doesn’t even have to be a lengthy journal but maybe every day for a week, write down things that pop into your head of what you see as healthy and what is a healthy life to you.” – Megan Wroe

As a mom, how do you get your daughter to eat her vegetables?

“One is to serve them but also with that is for you as the parent to serve and eat them too, because it really all boils down to modeling. If the vegetables on your plate and you are eating and savoring it, that’s the key. And you know, every kid hits a picky phase at some point. But, if they’re never given the opportunity to touch the food, smell the food, play with the food, see you cooking the food, see you eating the food every single day, that is the key to getting kids to eat their vegetables.” – Megan Wroe

Megan Wroe is a down to earth Dietitian who wants to help others discover the joy of healthy eating. If you are interested in connecting with Megan please feel free to use her contact information below. 

www.stjudewellnesscenter.org

stjudewellness@stjoe.org

megan.wroe@stjoe.org

(714) 578-8770 

1. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your educational background? I’m a second year medical student at the David Geffen School of Medicine here at UCLA. I grew up in Los Angeles County and I graduated high school in 2012. Then, I went to UC Irvine, to start my undergraduate studies. I started out as a general Biological Sciences major and then in between my second and third year I decided to specialize in biochemistry and molecular biology. I graduated UCI in 2016, and I took two gap years between my undergraduate and my medical school. I started medical school here at UCLA in fall of 2018, and I’ve been here ever since then and it’s been awesome.
2. Why did you choose biology as a major for your undergraduate at UCI? I always had this inkling of an idea that I wanted to become a physician. When you apply to college, from high school, and you know that you’re interested in going to medical school. You figure “Hey, I might as well be a biology major that seems to align the most with, you know, being a physician”. That’s the main reason why I decided to apply as a biology major. I figured it was the most applicable to what I was hoping to do in the future. I also just in general loved my biology classes in high school as well so it seemed obvious that was the route that I should take.
3. Is there a specific field that you’re hoping to pursue in the future? I’m not really set on one field. I spent some time shadowing in a couple of different specialties, and we start our clinical rotations in our third year so I’m hoping to have a better idea of what I’d like to do after I go through my rotation. I always thought that surgery was very interesting so I’m looking forward to my surgery rotation, and I’m looking forward to experiencing more of the other specialties that we get exposed to in our third year. You really don’t know what [a specialty] is going to be like, until you’re in it. So, it’s definitely important to keep an open mind, especially because medicine can be very broad and diverse.
4. What is the most challenging part of medical school?  I think the most challenging part is maintaining the ability to not compare yourself to others. Once you’re in medical school, you have this feeling of now I really can’t mess anything up and everything has to be perfect from here on out because I’m finally where I want it to be, and we try to keep up with what everyone else is up to, and we’re constantly comparing ourselves to others. I think this tends to produce some stress and anxiety for a lot of people. I think that conquering that has been my biggest accomplishment. Just realizing that I’m on my own journey, and nothing beneficial is going to come from comparing myself to others. Nowadays the only reason why I compare myself to others is to try to get ideas, or to try to get inspired. I’m just accepting myself for who I am and I’m following my passions and my interest, and I think that was hard at first. I’m starting to just accept who I am and accept that there’s certain things that I want to do and things that I don’t want to do and that’s totally fine.
5. How have you prioritized your mental health? I think it kind of just goes back to accepting myself for who I am and what my interests are. Doing things that get me excited and doing all this stuff on the side because it makes me happy but if you told me to go and do something that I don’t want to do, it’s going to be challenging for me. Allowing myself to not force myself to do things that I don’t want to do has been really helpful. I’m really lucky that I go to UCLA because our curriculum in the first two years is pass or fail. We have an exam every six to eight weeks. So, in general, there’s really only one exam every six to eight weeks that you have to pass, and I think it’s a relatively more relaxed curriculum compared to some other schools, so I’m really lucky to be here at UCLA. And we have a lot of great resources; they have free counseling and therapy services for all the medical students.
6. What are some tips that you would give to people aspiring to be doctors? I think having a passion or hobby outside of school and academics and medicine can also be helpful. Do what interests you, dip your toes into anything you think that you would be interested in because college is the time to really explore. This is the only time where you’re going to be around other people who are your age, who are experiencing a similar environment and who are also trying to figure out what they want to do. College is just an amazing time to explore. There are so many different organizations and opportunities and clubs on campus. I think if there’s one word I could use to summarize the idea of college experience, it is opportunity.
7. Can you talk a bit more about your podcasts and why you decided to start doing podcasts? I’m really passionate about music. When I was in elementary school, I discovered a genre of music that I was really passionate about, and growing up, iTunes had the podcast features. When I was in high school I discovered that these DJs that I loved uploaded weekly mixes onto the podcast on iTunes. So ever since I was in like 9th or 10th grade in high school, I began listening to these iTunes podcasts and then I wondered, “oh hey it would be so cool if I could have a show of my own, or a podcast of my own one day”. Fast forward to my third year of college at UCI, I started getting involved in the radio station there. And I eventually got my own weekly radio show, where I DJ live on air for two hours every Wednesday night, and I played music that I absolutely loved and I talked for a little bit on air. I did that for like three and a half years like even in my gap years, and that was like one of the coolest things that I did. That was the hardest extracurricular to end because I just love it so much. So, when medical school started I thought about dabbling in a radio station here at UCLA. A few months later I decided I could easily just start my own podcast that revolves around the stuff that I’m doing on social media and this would be an excellent way for me to broadcast, my perspectives and these things that I think people should hear if they’re interested in going to medical school, or just in general people who are interested in learning more about how they could better take advantage of their college experience. So, it just started with this love for music and having a radio show, and now I feel like I kind of have a similar setup now with my podcast.
8. What are your thoughts about health? (Policies, illnesses, current news, etc.) I’m really passionate about exercise and being active. It’s something that I didn’t discover until I got to college; I wasn’t really like an athletic kid growing up. Now it’s a big part of my life and I’m really passionate about spending time in the gym. You know, you can easily say things like, “Hey, you know, every American needs to exercise for XYZ amount of time every week”. Those are the recommendations set forth sometimes. However, I think there’s a lot of personal factors that go into people’s ability to exercise and eat healthy. I think that, it would be nice if we could find a way to address personal factors as opposed to just telling people that they need to exercise more and eat healthy. I just think it’s important that we kind of try and understand the background that people are living in, as opposed to just telling them that they need to eat well and exercise more because it’s harder for some than others.
9. What are some work experiences you have had either in undergraduate or medical school that have inspired you? The whole reason why I decided to go into medicine is because I value relationships. I worked as a medical scribe during my gap years between medical school and undergraduate, and as a medical scribe you’re not really interacting with patients directly; you observe countless physician patient interactions. Watching things from the outside, I really started to understand the effect that a physician’s words can have on how a patient feels, and what a patient knows about what’s going on is so meaningful. I think that was a defining experience for me. I want to have these awesome relationships with my patients where I feel like I’m providing value to their life and to their health.
10. What motto do you live by on a day to day basis? Just do what you want to do. I think as long as you’re doing things for the right reason, which is because you want to do it, then, you’re always going to end up coming out on top.

To learn more about Dejam, please visit the links to his social media platforms as well as his podcast: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dillondejam

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/medschooldillon/

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/dillon-dejam

This is a guest-post, and the opinion is of the guest writer. If you have any questions with any of the articles, please contact wordofhealth1@gmail.com.

1. Can you tell me about yourself and your educational background?

• My name is Mohammad Rimawi, and I am a podiatrist practicing in NYC. I earned my doctorate from the New York College of Podiatric Medicine. I was fortunate enough to serve as class president for four years and was also recognized with the Student Service Award. That award goes to the student voted by the graduating class as making the biggest impact on the field of podiatry. I was also inducted into the Pi Delta Honor Society for my achievements in research and studies.

2. Why did you decide to pursue medicine? And why podiatry specifically?

• Growing up I was very active in sports. Unfortunately, this lead to various injuries to my ankle. This then lead me to explore the world of medicine and podiatry as a whole.

3. What are some of your past work experiences that led you into your profession?

• Before podiatry, I worked in a pet shop for over 14 years. Although this has no relation to my current work, I do believe the social encounters from my time there helped me become more engaged and attentive to my patients now.

4. What is your most favorite part of your job?

• Helping people get back on their feet. Whether it be through a routine procedure like removing an ingrown toenail, or performing a reconstructive surgery, my greatest sense of accomplishment is making patients feel better after they have seen me.

5. What is the most fulfilling experience/ interaction you have had with your patients?

• Getting patients back on their feet is always a rewarding experience. From diabetic limb salvage, treating traumatic injuries, or relieving the aches of day to day foot pain, they all provide me with a sense of accomplishment.

6. What are some of your hobbies/activities and how do they tie into your profession?

• I still participate in sports activities, mainly basketball. My profession and experiences have definitely prepared me on how to prevent injuries but also how to respond if such an event were to occur. I enjoy reading nonfiction books in my spare time as well.

7. Has there been a life-changing moment that defines who you are today?

• When I was 15, I went back to Palestine for the first time since a child. The few months there definitely shaped who I am today. I developed a greater sense of appreciation for the opportunities that I was given in the United States and strive to maximize on them daily. This appreciation fuels my work ethic in any endeavor I pursue.

8. What is a primary advice you would give to your patient?

• Prevention is always the best medicine. It’s not enough to follow doctors orders when you’re ill or in need; you must maintain a healthy and well nourished lifestyle constantly. The prevention of a disease will always be better than its cure, and this is the motto we should all abide by.

9. What are your thoughts about health?

• The health field continues to advance which is promising. However, with the rise of social media it is concerning with the amount of false information that is released to the public. I would urge the public to always visit a professional in their time of need. Social media is useful tool for information but should not be your only source.

10. What motto do you live by on a day to day basis?

• “Hard work beats talent, when talent fails to work hard.” Everything I have accomplished up until this point, I can attribute to a strong work ethic.