Angie Ruhlen, UGA Dietician

“I love crazy questions and debunking food myths, so I encourage them all,” said Angie Ruhlen, a registered dietician at the University of Georgia Health Center. “I encourage students who come to the classes to ask me any question regarding nutrition, so there is not a nutrition topic we don’t talk about!” She was describing her cooking class, The Nutrition Kitchen, which she uses to instruct and encourage students to live a healthy lifestyle by using recipes that are fast, easy and cheap. The classes are taught two to three times a month at the health center. Ruhlen has been teaching this class since Aug. 2009 when she started working at the health center.

Ruhlen received a bachelor’s degree in Spanish combined with a minor in biology at the University of Georgia in 2001. She then followed with a master’s degree in dietetics from the college of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Georgia in 2004. Her dietetics internship through the university placed her in numerous facilities, mainly located in the Atlanta area.

Although, she received a master’s in dietetics, Ruhlen had not always planned on working in that field of study. She was pre-med during her earlier years of undergraduate study and began looking at medical schools her junior year. “I began touring med schools to figure out which ones I wanted to apply to. At this point, I started to question if I really wanted the life of a doctor,” said Ruhlen. She was unsure of what career she wanted to pursue. However one thing was certain, she wanted to help people and work in the medical field.

Ruhlen struggled with creating a balanced, healthy lifestyle and picked up several bad eating habits in college. When she met with the nutritionist, she found the profession very appealing. Ruhlen specifically enjoyed the hours and flexible schedules of a dietician. That was when she realized that this could be the career for her. “I’ve always been interested in nutrition, because my mom and dad raised me on organic, home-grown vegetables,” explained Ruhlen.

After she received her master’s degree in dietetics, she got a job at the Gwinnett Medical Center as a clinical dietitian. She had previously interned there for four weeks while still in school. After she graduated, she was able to get the job and work there for three years. “I worked in the main hospital most of the time, but also got great experience working with eating disorders and mental illnesses at their psychiatric facility, Summit Ridge,” said Ruhlen.

Ruhlen then got a job at St. Mary’s Hospital in Athens as a clinical dietician. She worked there for two years before getting her current job at the University of Georgia Health Center. Ruhlen spends a majority of her time working on medical nutrition therapy with students one-on-one. “This entails nutrition counseling on a variety of issues, like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, weight management, celiac disease,” she explained.

Ruhlen also works with students on topics such as eating disorders. She has been to several health fairs around campus and has spoken in many classes in the nutrition and health promotion departments to help spread the awareness and importance of a healthy lifestyle.