Nutritional Therapy

Make an appointment

Registered Dietitian appointments with Rayven Nairn are available for currently enrolled Johns Hopkins University students.

For appointment scheduling, Homewood, Peabody, and School of Education students should call the Student Health and Wellness Center at 410-516-8270; students on the East Baltimore campus should contact UHS at 410-955-3250. Services are free of charge for eligible students.

Meet our Registered Dietitian

Rayven Nairn, MS, RDN, LDNRayven Nairn headshot joined the JHU team in 2022. Rayven is most concerned about your health and administers medical nutrition therapy and nutrition counseling to her patients using a non-diet, health at every size approach. Rayven, based on her formal training, draws from various therapeutic approaches, but believes that client success is rooted in behavior and lifestyle changes.

What is the Study of Dietetics?

Dietetics is the study of how food and nutrition effects human health. Dietetics uses research-based knowledge about food and nutrition to help prevent and treat disease, and to maintain and promote overall health and wellbeing.

Role of the Dietitian

A dietitian (or dietitian nutritionist) is an expert in identifying and treating disease-related conditions and malnutrition. Dietitians conduct medical nutrition therapy and advises on proper dietary practices for health management, to protect health, to manage allergies, and/or to manage the symptoms of a disease or chronic condition via nutrition interventions and prescriptions.

Common Reasons to Work with a Dietitian

  • Medical diagnosis with significant nutrition implications including diabetes (and prediabetes), hypoglycemia, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, (non-alcoholic) fatty liver disease
  • Concerns for disordered eating and/or an eating disorder
  • Digestive problems including food allergies, lactose intolerance or sensitivity, celiac’s disease, chron’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease, constipation, diarrhea
  • Vegetarian or vegan lifestyle advice with concern for undernutrition
  • Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
  • Nutrient deficiencies: vitamin and/or mineral
  • Family history of nutrition-related disease with associated risk factors
  • Recent unintentional weight loss or loss of appetite

Our dietitian promotes a weight-normative approach and is open to discussing patients’ weight-related concerns but will not provide/prescribe weight loss diets or meal plans unless deemed medically necessary.

For concerns including the following, please visit the Nutrition page on the Health Promotion & Well-Being website.

  • Weight management (gain or loss) not deemed necessary for medical management
  • Food & mood and mental health
  • Tiredness not explained by lack of sleep
  • Body dissatisfaction
  • Nutrient analysis – you want feedback on your diet and help with eating smarter
  • General nutrition-related questions and concerns

How to Schedule an Appointment

Registered dietitian services are available by appointment only. Although referral from a medical provider is recommended, students can also make appointments on a self-referral basis.

Call the health center to schedule an individual consultation with our RD. Our RD works closely with the medical providers, counseling center staff as well as mental health services to ensure consistency and quality of care.

What to Expect at Your Appointment

Your initial visit will be scheduled for 45 minutes (50 minutes for Eating disorder concerns) and is used to gather information. The RD will review your nutrition and medical history. You’ll have time to ask specific nutrition-related questions. The RD will provide nutrition education and you will work together to form nutrition recovery SMART goals. Goals are intended to promote and involve behavior change with ongoing monitoring and evaluation.

Follow up visits are 25 minutes and are decided upon at the end of your appointment (if needed). Follow up appointments can be two to three weeks, monthly, or every three months. These appointments are a chance to review ongoing nutrition education and interventions, update and modify goals if needed, and more. Cancellations and reschedules require at least 24 hours notice.

Resources

General Nutrition

Eating Concerns