Alumni Spotlight - Kenny Gleisner

Why did you pursue a degree from Penn State Nutritional Sciences?

Nutrition was not my initial calling, or so I thought. During my freshman year as a business administration major at another institution, a family member of mine was hospitalized multiple times over the year. Throughout this stressful time, I sought to find answers for how I could help this individual now and in the future. I discovered that nutrition is at least one part of the puzzle for healthcare prevention and treatment. 

I chose Penn State’s Nutritional Sciences program because I knew Penn State had a well-known, established nutritional sciences program that could amplify opportunities for me to achieve my goals and help others.

How would you describe your current position and what impact(s) are you seeking to make?

I am an inpatient clinical Registered Dietitian in a large academic teaching hospital in Boston, Massachusetts where I see patients when they are at their most vulnerable – in the Intensive Care Unit. Here I provide recommendations for critically ill patients on nutrition support, optimize nutritional status in patients with complex medical histories, and help improve healthcare outcomes. 

I have two areas for impact. One, I strive to show the importance of nutrition in critical care and advocate for the patient as a member of the medical team. Two, I strive to be a direct and indirect source of comfort and support for patients and families. While I initially planned to stay in inpatient nutrition for two to three years, I’m happy to say I’m still practicing in this specialty eight years later.

How did your degree help you to get to your current position? 

Having a degree from Penn State gave me both tangible and intangible building blocks for my career. Given how small the field is, this program amplified the power of social networking and opportunity. Penn State challenged me to grow out of my comfort zone, acknowledge opportunity, and build confidence to make an impact on a larger scale. Despite being hundreds of miles away from Penn State, I still have relationships and a network of alumni that impact my life post-graduation. 

What would you describe as the biggest opportunity and the biggest challenge in the field?

Nutrition is an accessible but challenging field. It’s for this reason: there is a lot of competition adjacent to the field. Whether it be fad diets, misaligned headlines, or social media influencers and trends, there are lots of sources of misinformation registered dietitians must compete with.

While this is a challenge, this is a big opportunity for dietitians who have broad and extensive knowledge. Registered dietitans are starting to be popularized in media and public opinion. The more we educate the public about what dietitians do and know, the better we build trust and support in the public to bring sound evidence-based information to the forefront. 

What advice do you have for graduates just starting out?

Here’s what I found extremely important in my life and career thus far. I always create a specific vision for where I’d like to be. In the short term, I position myself for experiences and connections that can lay the groundwork for achieving that. Creating tangible steps can help make an ethereal goal, often seen as unreachable, attainable. It’s a hard pill to swallow but like any career, the route is never direct and not always clear. Where you start is not necessarily where you’ll end up thriving – which was the case for me. Just know, that detours are just that – a path to get you back on track.