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Across the World to Singapore

Published on : 10/1/22
  • We paid a visit to our KK Women’s and Children Hospital (KKH) site– and talked to our dietician in the food catering department. From meal planning to nutrition research, a small action goes a long way for the patients at KKH.

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    Vukmirovic Maja 
    Dietician (Food Catering Department), Sodexo @ KKH
     

    At KKH, Maja’s role includes guiding the kitchen team on how to properly prepare a therapeutic diet, while also making sure that the patients under the hospital’s dietician care name list receives the right diet to suit to their needs.  

    Particularly for the children and women’s wards, it is important that any guidelines are strictly adhered to. Patients could include pregnant women, or very young children - of which there are certain foods that have to be avoided at all costs, and other foods that are greatly beneficial for their development and growth. This is where Maja puts her expertise to the test. 

    For example, a doctor will pair with a dietician to decide the ideal therapeutic diet to be followed for a patient undergoing a specific therapy. This will then be translated to the food catering department, where the dieticians will work on a currently available menu or amend the menu to adjust them to fit the patient’s diet. To be more specific, such adjustments could include serving up a different portion, changing the percentage of vegetables or protein, or even using a different texture (cut, blended, minced) for the same dish – in order to ensure that each patient’s requirements is well taken care of.   

     During her time in Europe, Maja has built a strong foundation and background in the nutrition sector before heading to Singapore. Upon arriving from Europe, Maja wanted to engross herself into the local Singapore culture, be it in areas of healthcare, work, or nutrition and food. It was necessary for her to better understand the local tastes and preferences for her to cater to the patients’ palettes and dietary requirements at KKH. With her prior experience as a nutritionist in Europe, it made it easier for her to pinpoint what aspects of her job scope that required her to balance nutrition with local preferences to meet the various needs of the consumers she was serving. Throughout her 4 years at Sodexo, Maja has since learnt a lot while adapting to the culture of working in Singapore, and in a niche environment like the hospital.

    There are different types of food, cuisines, methods or cooking and preparation. I also had to learn what goes into the specific diets of vegetarians, halal and more – in a hospital context. There are some diets which I must pay more attention to, any mistakes or carelessness could result in an unideal amplified effect on the patient. Things are very dynamic here – we must be ready to adapt each time the patient’s condition changes for the worse or better.

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