A MESSAGE from Maria Hall MS, RD, LDN, SNS

PROGRAM DIRECTOR 

PRIORITY NUTRITION CARE DISTANCE DIETETIC INTERNSHIP

About Anne Manion MBA, RDN, LD 

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER PRIORITY NUTRITION CARE LLC

FOUNDER & FORMER PROGRAM DIRECTOR, PRIORITY NUTRITION CARE DISTANCE DIETETIC INTERNSHIP

Hello Everyone, 

I hope that my biography will provide you with some insight into my experience in the field of nutrition and dietetics and how this experience lent and continues to lend itself to the development of a Dietetic Internship experience that provides for inclusivity for traditional and nontraditional students alike, through the knowledge of the vast opportunities awaiting Registered Dietitians, now more so than ever, and the recognition that every aspect of this field is based in business. 

I am the founder and CEO of Priority Nutrition Care LLC, formerly Priority Nutrition Care and Services and the Priority Nutrition Care Distance Dietetic Internship. Our office, from which we can see the Boston skyline, is in Hingham, Massachusetts. I am a Registered Dietitian and Licensed Nutritionist with fifty years of experience in the fields of Nutrition, Education, and Business. I have no plans to retire. I am a native Bostonian and received my Bachelor of Science in Nutrition at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and my Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Northeastern University in Boston. I completed my Dietetic Internship at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence Rhode Island. 

Early in my career, the seed was planted for my interest in Diabetes care and its challenges and opportunities while working at the former New England Deaconess Hospital (now Beth Israel Deaconess), which at the time was affiliated with The Joslin Clinic. I became a Certified Diabetes Educator and enjoyed working with clients to help them gain and maintain control of their Diabetes. Additionally, I founded the first professional practice group in Boston for Dietitians working with Cancer patients, with the backing of The American Cancer Society’s Boston office and the Dana Farber Cancer Center, as an Oncology Specialist. 

Several years with Mead Johnson Nutritional Division, a division of Bristol Myers Squibb, allowed me to share my expertise in nutrition care for oncology patients, which had been honed at the Deaconess, as a Registered Dietitian specializing in their adult products. Later, I became involved in neonatal and pediatric nutrition with some of the world’s best-known pediatricians and neonatologists from around the United States, as a liaison for Mead Johnson with Neonatal and Pediatric Nurseries and Intensive Care units, with an emphasis on the Harvard, Tufts, and Boston University affiliated institutions. 

An affinity for education led me to the faculty of Northeastern University’s University College for over ten years, where I taught several levels of Nutrition. I was also an adjunct faculty member at many other colleges and universities in the Boston area. 

One position in particular led to an opportunity to become the Chief of Clinical Nutrition and Food Services for the Boston Veteran’s Administration Medical Center and outpatient services in Boston, where I remained until I was offered the position of Department Chairperson in Nutrition and Food Management at Labouré College in Boston, a college of health professions, where I was the Director of the Dietetic Technician Program.  

I came to realize while at Laboure College that there were many individuals locked out of the field of nutrition and dietetics for several reasons. These people included those who had families or responsibilities which precluded them from leaving home and relocating to complete an internship. As such, I decided to develop an Internship Program for people who want or need to stay in their communities for a plethora of reasons. 

Having had a thriving private practice for decades, seeing private clients and consulting for small, medium and large entities, well known and obscure, I developed the Priority Nutrition Care Distance Dietetic Internship, in part to provided opportunities to make the field more inclusive. I believe my colleagues and I have accomplished that goal. 

Coming from a family of health care providers and educators, having worked full time since I graduated from college, bringing up two sons who are now professionals and helping them and my daughters in law with the challenges of bringing up their five boys, while they work full time, I appreciate the challenges facing our Interns and try, with our team, to incorporate all of this experience to continually improve our Program and make it even more workable for those facing all people who wish to enter our field.  I recently stepped down as the Program Director to focus on business development in our company.