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Spotlight on a Member: Maria M. Fessia, RD, LDN

Maria was born in San Juan Puerto Rico. In college, she studied Nutrition & Dietetics at the University of Puerto Rico, and then did her Dietetic Internship at the Department of Public Health with a specialty in Community Nutrition. Afterwards, she worked at the Institute of Gastroenterology and Nutrition in San Juan for eleven years. Here she wrote several nutrition articles for professional magazines and a monthly nutrition newsletter for Searle Pharmaceuticals. At that time she got an offer to work part time in a private practice at the Institute of Family Medicine.

Maria enjoyed playing tennis so she joined the Puerto Rico Tennis Association and played in several tennis competitions. During the last year of competition, she and her partner were the first double couple of the team. Maria also worked as a volunteer in the Cursillo Movement of the Catholic Church.

She moved in to Connecticut in 1996 when married James Fessia from West Springfield. While here, she started working at Springfield WIC. After many years of focusing on adult nutrition, it was an enjoyable professional experience to switch her focus to children and pregnant women.

One year later she decided to work in a different setting, missing the challenge of Medical Nutrition Therapy with chronically ill patients. She started working at Mercy Women's Health Center for the Sisters of Providence Health System. This setting allowed her to work with high risk pregnant, postpartum and menopausal women and teens and tackle a wider variety of diseases and conditions such as HIV, gestational diabetes, substance abuse and obesity. As part of her job she also belonged to the JCAHO team. She suggested they do random surveys with the JCAHO list. The team liked the idea and the clinic passed the JCAHO survey with no recommendations. She also conducted teen groups with innovative ideas to keep them motivated to attend.

During that time, she moved to Massachusetts and got involved with WAMDA's Nominating Committee. She spent three years in that position and was the chairperson in her final year.

In 2004 she started working as a primary care dietitian at Holyoke Health Center. Six months later she became a manager of an Obesity Grant sponsored by the federal government. Maria recruited and trained her staff in all aspects of weight management. In 2007 she presented the program in a Poster Session at the Food and Nutrition Conference Expo in Philadelphia and at the Women of Color Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Five years later she continues to direct the Healthy Weight Program and to help the Latino population of Holyoke to lose weight in order to prevent and control diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Every year, as part of the program she organizes an exercise campaign that ends with a mall walk. Last year 81 adults and children participated in this beneficial program. She has found this program personally rewarding and she feels great to help people in need that are a part of her culture.

Maria loves working with people, teaching nutrition and modeling healthy eating and exercising behaviors with her patients. She likes to go the gym, but when the weather is nice, she prefers to walk at Forest Park with her husband. As a dietitian, she always watches what she eats and takes care of herself. She loves to travel and vacation at Isla Verde Beach in Puerto Rico, especially when the weather is freezing in Massachusetts.

Written by Kathy Berdecia-Rodriguez, R.D., L.D.N.

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Previous Spotlight on a Member: Claire Norton, MS, RD, LDN