Frequently Asked Questions
ABOUT THE BUSINESS
What is My Dietitian?
My Dietitian is a registered business owned by Maya McColm
who is a qualified and accredited dietitian-nutritionist with more than
12 years of clinical experience.
My Dietitian aims to provide personal, practical, professional
and affordable nutritional advice via the Internet or personal face-to-face
consultations.
The service aims to encourage long-term healthy nutrition and behavioural
change as well as to improve accessibility and availability to professional
dietetic services.
Our Mission Statement is: My Dietitian - For Optimal health and
lifestyle.
QUALIFICATIONS
Why should I use an Accredited Practicing Dietitian (APD)
for my dietary advice?
Accredited Practicing Dietitians (APDs) are recognised professionals
who have the qualifications and expertise to provide expert nutrition
and dietary advice. APDs need to meet detailed criteria developed by
the Dietitians Association
of Australia (DAA). These include ongoing education to keep up to
date with advances in health and food sciences and a commitment to a
code of professional conduct.
ABOUT THE SERVICES
1. Does My Dietitian provide nutritional counselling for
a wide range of Special Diets?
Maya McColm is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian (APD) with more
than 12 years experience in a wide range of therapeutic areas of nutrition
including:
- Overweight and obesity
- Diabetes and impaired glucose intolerance (type I and type II)
- Cardiovascular disease (elevated blood fats and hypertension)
- Cancer
- Malnutrition and weight loss
- Gastrointestinal disorders (constipation, diarrhoea, diverticular
disease, irritable bowel, coeliac disease and diets requiring texture
modifications)
- Eating disorders (bulimia and anorexia nervosa)
- Renal diets
- Antenatal and postnatal nutrition
- Paediatric nutrition
- Sports nutrition
- General nutritional advice
2. Are Internet consultations as effective
as face-to-face counselling?
Health counselling on the Internet is the way of the future. Many
people do not have easy access to health professionals. Technology has
enabled us to provide greater efficiencies, especially for the busy
individuals who do not have the time to make and attend appointments.
You can receive all your dietary information and counselling support
from the convenience of your own home, wherever that is, at any time
of day. All queries can be resolved via the phone or the Internet and
we will provide you with your service promptly.
If you live locally (Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia) and you
would prefer an individual face-to-face consultation, this can
be arranged at an appointed time and place.
3. How do I make a personal (face-to-face)
appointment with the dietitian?
Although the main focus of My Dietitian is to provide Internet
nutrition counselling, a face-to-face nutrition counselling appointment
can be arranged for local customers living on the Sunshine Coast in
Queensland, Australia. Home visits can also be arranged within the service
area. For more information, see our Personal
Appointments section or contact us to
arrange an appointment.
4. I don't have any special dietary
requirements, but I just want to know whether my diet is well balanced?
The aim of My Dietitian is to provide all individuals personal,
practical, professional and affordable dietary advice for Optimal
Health and Lifestyle. We can computer analyse your diet (using a
typical daily food intake record) to determine where your diet can be
improved in line with your goals and requirements. All you need to do
is to go to our Computer Dietary Analysis
section to access this service.
5. I want to lose weight. What do I
do and how much will it cost?
My Dietitian provides a weight loss service either via the Internet
or personal face-to-face appointments. To access the Internet service,
just go to our Weight Control Program
section. To make a personal face-to-face appointment, contact us
by email or telephone.
Initial and follow-up review appointments can be arranged by contacting
us.
The Weight Control Program is tailored
to suit your individual requirements and personal goals. Most Private
Health Insurances will rebate on dietetic services. The level of rebate
will depend on your individual private health insurance plan.
6. I have heart disease, but I also
want to lose weight. What do I do?
For Internet counselling, all you need to do is go to our Special
Diets section and select "Cardiovascular Disease" as your special diet and fill out the forms accordingly. Your weight control goals are
covered by the questions you will be asked on the forms where you are
also given the opportunity to provide extra comments regarding your
dietary requirements and health goals.
The Internet is also an efficient vehicle for effective communication;
therefore any information that needs to be clarified or expanded on
can be communicated via e-mail using this web site. During dietary counselling
sessions it is common to have to deal with
7. What if I need on going dietetic
support to lose weight, can My Dietitian give me that support?
Following your initial Internet or personal face-to-face appointment
(for local customers on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland Australia), follow-up
reviews can be arranged based on the extent of follow-up support required.
This includes combined advice on meal planning and menu suggestions.
This will assist you in your understanding of how you can change your
diet, but also offer advice on what foods and how much you require to
reach your health goals.
To arrange follow-up, on-going dietary support, just contact
us by phone or email. Follow-up face-to-face appointments can be
arranged for local customers.
8. What if I have a specific nutritional
query, but it is not one of the noted services on the My Dietitian web
site?
Under the "services" section there is a service for "Other" dietary
services. This could include: article writing for magazines, giving
lectures to organizations, analysing recipes or answering any nutritional
queries. Or you can use the "Contact Us" section and send us an e-mail.
We will either give you a quote to provide the service based on an
hourly basis, or endeavour to refer you to someone else able to assist
you.
9. Our organization requires a Dietitian
to give a lecture and provide nutrition information to our customers.
Does My Dietitian provide this service?
We can talk to your group about any dietary concerns. The talk will
be targeted to your needs and may be disease specific, or on topics
such as: how best to get your children to eat well?, or the healthy
diet for older persons, just to name a few examples.
We can also write articles for your newsletter or magazine on nutrition
related topics.
The costs of these services will be negotiated based on an hourly
rate.
10. As a Medical Practitoner (or other
Health Care Worker), how do I refer clients to My Dietitian?
Referrals are welcome from all Medical Practitioners and Health Care
Workers as well as self referred customers. To refer your client you
can do one of the following:
(a) Send a referral letter to: My Dietitian, PO Box 1027,
Buderim, Qld 4556.
(b) Fill out and send this on-line form.
(c) Phone 0408 431800 to make an appointment. We will e-mail you
or send you a letter outlining your client's dietary management.
PAYMENTS
1. How do I make payments to My Dietitian?
You can choose to pay My Dietitian using one of these 3 payment
options:
(a) By providing your credit card details by phone or via a secure
payment facility on this web site. My Dietitian accepts payment
by Mastercard, Visa or Bankcard.
(b) By sending a cheque addressed to:
My Dietitian
PO Box 1027
Buderim Qld 4556
Australia
(c) By direct credit to My Dietitian's bank account. If you choose
this payment option, My Dietitian will contact you to give
you the account details for the transaction.
For on-line consultations, you will be able to select your payment
method towards the end of your consultation. Receipts can be provided
upon request. The service cannot be delivered until payment is received.
2. What Health Care rebate can I expect
to receive?
Most private health insurances will rebate on dietetic services. The
level of rebate will depend on your individual private health insurance
plan. We will send receipts on payment if requested, and you will need
to make arrangements with your private health insurance for your dietary
consultation rebate.
You do not need to be referred by a medical practitioner to receive
a rebate from your private health insurance.
Please note: Medicare does not rebate on dietary consultations.
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