Su-Nui Escobar

DCN, RDN, FAND

My name is Su-Nui Escobar, DCN, RDN, FAND. I am a doctor in clinical nutrition. Professionally, working as a nutrition expert in the media has been a passion of mine since graduation. My other passion is teaching, and I am currently working in combining both by creating an Instagram account and a blog to help other dietitians grow their online presence (@evolvingdietitians). I am also an Academy spokesperson and an adjunct professor. In terms of struggles, I have faced some of the same issues many others in my culture have faced. I only have my sister living near me; thus, childcare is difficult, especially if there is an unexpected change in my schedule. Financial struggles are frequent in my culture, as there is often less family support available. If my parents lived here, since they are bot h professionals, they could have helped me more financially during my undergraduate program and my internship. This is the reason why I believe we need to create more scholarships to minorities. However, I mostly feel that speaking Spanish has created opportunities for me.

I honestly feel that I live in a bubble as 70% of people living in Miami are Hispanics, thus universities in the area are culturally competent for my minority group. Other minorities are severely underrepresented. However, our profession could improve the process to be more diverse and inclusive. We overall need to help minorities with scholarships for college and for the internship. We also need to provide minorities with work opportunities to make them competitive enough to secure a spot as dietetic interns. Until minorities have the opportunity to be students and interns, no amount of education in cultural competency will create a more diverse and inclusive profession.