FNCE^® Workshops

Elevate your dietetic practice in the management of micronutrient deficiencies! Navigating biomarkers of micronutrient status is a critical part of nutrition assessment yet factors such as inflammation and liver dysfunction often confound the picture and create uncertainty among clinicians regarding appropriate next steps in the care plan. This can lead to under recognition and undertreatment of these nutritional complications.

This interactive workshop will equip dietitians with the tools and confidence to tackle these challenges by diving into laboratory evaluation, strategic decision making for micronutrient replacement, and integration of the nutrition care process. Attendees will discuss approaches for interpreting micronutrient lab results, apply evidence-based strategies for treating vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and practice putting the micronutrient care plan into action through small group break-out sessions and case-based activities led by experts in the field.

Workshop registration includes a copy of the Pocket Guide to Micronutrient Management.

• Explain how biochemical indices are used to assess vitamin and mineral status.
• Interpret laboratory markers of micronutrient status within the context of inflammation, hepatic function, and other components of nutritional assessment.
• Utilize evidence-based resources to develop an intervention and monitoring plan for patients with micronutrient deficiencies.

• Early-career RDNs who identify potential micronutrient deficiencies and may order laboratory testing.
• Practitioners seeking guidance on how to interpret micronutrient lab results and determine appropriate next steps.
• RDNs who feel "stuck" after receiving lab results and want support translating findings into actionable nutrition interventions.
• Clinicians looking to build confidence in developing treatment plans, implementing interventions, and monitoring ongoing patient care following micronutrient assessment.

• Lead Facilitator: Holly Estes-Doetsch, DCN, RDN, LD – Assistant Clinical Professor, The Ohio State University
• Lead Facilitator: Kristen Roberts, PhD, RD, LD, CNSC, FASPEN, FAND – Associate Professor, The Ohio State University
• Co-Facilitator: Kelly O'Donnell, MS, RDN, CNSC – Nutrition Support Dietitian, University of Virginia Health System
• Co-Facilitator: Michelle L. Schneider, MS, RDN, CNSC, FASPEN – Advanced Practice Clinical Dietitian, Froedtert Hospital

Baby-led weaning is a safe and effective approach to starting complementary foods for infants. Despite its growth in popularity and practice, many pediatric dietitians lack opportunities for practical, hands-on training to confidently guide families. This interactive pre-conference workshop bridges that gap by combining evidence-based teaching with real-world application. Participants will review the scientific principles of baby-led weaning, including readiness to start solid foods, safe food texture progression, allergen introduction strategies, and responsive feeding practices.

Through small-group, hands-on activities, attendees will explore food texture progression, practice modifying foods to make them safe for babies, and evaluate common feeding challenges using case scenarios. Facilitators will demonstrate how to support parents in overcoming fears about choking, gagging, allergic reactions and offering a variety of foods.

By the end of the workshop, pediatric dietitians will feel more equipped to translate baby-led weaning research into actionable guidance that empowers families and supports self-feeding success. This practical session is ideal for dietitians seeking to expand their clinical skills and build confidence in teaching baby-led weaning.

• Assess readiness for starting solid foods and implement strategies addressing caregiver concerns (e.g., gagging, choking, allergic reactions) to improve feeding assessments and increase caregiver confidence.
• Demonstrate safe food-texture modification techniques by preparing and evaluating foods to meet baby-led weaning safety guidelines, improving effective, practical, developmentally appropriate feeding recommendations for families.
• Conduct case-based evaluations of feeding scenarios and formulate family-centered recommendations supporting responsive and self-feeding development to enhance nutrition counseling and promote feeding outcomes for infants.

• Pediatric dietitians looking to build practical, hands-on skills related to baby-led weaning.
• Registered dietitian nutritionists and nutrition professionals working in maternal, infant, and early childhood nutrition.
• Lifecycle educators seeking strategies to confidently teach and demonstrate baby-led weaning techniques.
• Parents and caregivers who want hands-on practice preparing and serving foods for baby-led weaning.

• Lead Facilitator: Katie Ferraro, MPH, RDN – Dietitian, Baby-Led Weaning with Katie Ferraro
• Co-Facilitator: Jessica Coll, RD – Registered Dietitian, International Baby-Led Weaning Network of Health Professionals

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the way health professionals ideate, communicate, and deliver care, yet many dietitians remain uncertain with how or where to begin. This first-of-its-kind, three-hour intensive workshop bridges the gap through an applied, hands-on, and community learning experience designed for dietetic practice where the forefront of every dietetic practitioner’s responsibilities lie: research, communications, education, management and leadership.

Participants will bring their own existing program or process and move through three progressive stages: Discover-Design-Deploy, to identify opportunities for innovation, create meaningful AI-generated product/output, and develop streamlined solutions to enhance daily or weekly operations. Each stage includes a brief lecture, guided tool demonstrations, hands-on application and reflection using a professional practice framework to ensure responsible tool selection, use and integration.

Attendees will complete an AI workflow and prompt map, a tailored resource that captures their learnings, high-impact prompts, and reflection outcomes, allowing for immediate translation into practice. This transformational session equips attendees to ideate confidently, create efficiently, and automate responsibly, positioning dietitians as leaders – not followers – in today's AI-driven landscape.

• Utilize AI tools to discover, design, and deploy dietetic practice processes to amplify the researcher, communicator, educator, manager, and leader within every dietitian.
• Explore and apply professional and ethical standards to each workshop stage to ensure responsible AI tool selection, engagement and application.
• Complete and document a personalized AI workflow to refer to during and post-workshop applications.

• Registered dietitians and nutrition professionals looking to integrate AI into daily practice.
• Early career professionals wanting practical, hands-on exposure to AI applications in dietetics.

• Lead Facilitator: Drew M. Hemler, MSc, RD, CDN, FAND – AI Consultant + Speaker, Nutrition by Drew, PLLC
• Lead Facilitator: Raul Palacios, Jr., MS, RDN, LD – DPD Director, Texas Tech University
• Co-Facilitator: Chrissy Carroll, MPH, RD, RRCA Running Coach – Owner, Self-Employed

Nutrition misinformation floods digital media while credentialed dietitians struggle to get quoted. The public is more confused than ever by contradictory nutrition messages, yet unqualified "wellness experts" increasingly dominate the conversation. Dietitians have the credentials and evidence-based knowledge, but often lack the communication skills journalists need to publish their expertise.

This interactive workshop provides the missing piece. Led by two dietitian freelance health journalists with hundreds of bylines in national publications, you'll learn the specific techniques that transform you from a source journalists pass by to an expert they return to repeatedly. You'll master crafting publication-ready soundbites, front-loading email responses for maximum impact, eliminating jargon while maintaining accuracy, and responding to deadline-driven requests. Through hands-on exercises, you'll practice writing quotable responses, edit unusable quotes into publishable gold, and experience firsthand what makes certain answers stand out to journalists and readers.

This isn't just about personal visibility; it's professional responsibility. Every article quoting an unqualified source is an article that should have quoted you. Leave with templates and proven strategies to amplify evidence-based nutrition and combat misinformation at scale.

• Demonstrate ability to craft publication-ready soundbites by writing standalone quotes that meet digital journalism standards for length and clarity.
• Transform unusable nutrition explanations into accessible, quotable language while maintaining scientific accuracy for general audience publications.
• Apply email interview techniques that prioritize journalist workflow needs and increase the likelihood of publication in digital media.

• Early-career dietitians and nutrition professionals interested in building a presence in the media landscape.
• Students seeking an introduction to media opportunities and communications skills.
• Professionals exploring media work as a potential extension or second-career opportunity within nutrition communications.

This workshop will provide hands-on learning stations for auscultation and palpation of the abdomen, reading of abdominal and chest x-rays, performing a swallow screen, and measuring blood pressure and blood glucose. These skills can be used to further the nutrition assessment, provide timely interventions, and improve patient care. Led by experienced RDN nutrition-focused physical exam trainers and practicing clinicians, you will explore a diverse array of techniques applicable across various clinical settings, from ambulatory care to critical care environments. Gain firsthand experience in utilizing these assessment methods, honing your skills under the guidance of experts who have implemented them with success in their own clinical populations. In addition, observe a trained RDN placing a small-bore feeding tube and learn of the process for implementing RDN-lead feeding tube program. Don't miss this opportunity to expand your toolbox and elevate your nutrition assessment.

• Demonstrate ability to measure blood pressure and blood glucose levels.
• Conduct a swallow screening to assess the risk of dysphagia and determine the need for a speech-language pathology referral.
• Perform the auscultation and percussion techniques for abdominal exam.
• Identify normal and abnormal findings in abdominal and chest x-rays (i.e. location of the feeding tube, ileus, central line placement).
• Describe placement of small-bore feeding tube and understanding of implementing RDN lead feeding tube placements.

• RDNs looking to enhance their expertise and acquire advanced-level techniques in clinical nutrition.
• Educators aiming to expand their knowledge and elevate their teaching and clinical practice skills.
• Students/Interns eager to gain hands-on experience and deepen their understanding of advanced clinical nutrition practices.

• Lindsay Dowhan, MS, RD, LD, CNSC, CCTD – Advanced Practice Clinical Dietitian, Cleveland Clinic
• Elizabeth Ehorn, DHSc, RDN-AP, CNSC, FAND – Dietitian & Sr. Director of Food & Nutrition Services, Lurie Children's Hospital
• Alicia Gilmore, MS, RD, CSO, LD – Dietitian, Program Director, & Clinical Associate Professor, Texas A&M University
• Beth Mordarski, RDN, LD – Dietitian & Manager of NFPE Program, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
• Kristy Paley, MS, RD, CSPCC, LDN – Pediatric Dietitian & Team Lead, Duke Children's Hospital
• Heather Pitts, RDN, LD, CNSC – Lead Clinical Dietitian, Cone Health
• Caitlin Stewart, MS, RD, CDN, CNSC, CLC, CCTD – Pediatric Nutrition Support Specialist, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital/New York-Presbyterian
• Ashley Strickland, RDN, LDN, CNSC – Adult Clinical Dietitian Supervisor & Trauma/Surgical Intensive Care Dietitian, ECU Health