Her decision to become a dietician was "divinely inspired," jokes Mary Healy. She may be exaggerating but she still laughs at her own good fortune. She loves her work.

Healy is employed as a dietician at Cork University Hospital. Working in a busy regional hospital as a dietician is a satisfying, rewarding job. Directing patients back towards a healthier diet "can be lifechanging for them" she says. "The patient-contact, that's definitely what I like most, seeing that you can make a difference. It's often a whole life-style change . . . there's a sense of satisfaction there."

First and foremost, Healy is a scientist. But on top of having a definite interest in science, she explains that "you have to be a communicator. You have to be interested in people. And you have to want to work in a hospital, that's a relatively obvious one."

Listing off the other important attributes, she says "common sense is necessary". She says "you have to be practical because all the theory is all well and good but it's about putting it into practice. And you are trying to convince people to make dietry changes. You have to be organised."

Mary Healy is from Kanturk, Co Cork. She went to the Convent of Mercy school there. "I was always very interested in science. I always loved chemistry and biology at school but there was no astounding calling to do dietetics."

She decided to give herself a chance to discover what her options were and so she signed on for a BSc hons at UCC. By third year she had narrowed the field down and knew that dietetics was the discipline she wanted to pursue.

"I explored the different options that were open to me," she recalls. The career guidance available at UCC was particularly valuable, she says. In first year at university she studied maths methodology, physics, chemistry and biology. In second year she took nutrition, microbiology and biochemistry. "Definitely nutrition was the most interesting. But I really liked microbiology as well."

In third year she took biochemistry and nutrition and in fourth year she studied nutrition. Although the degree is very much geared towards research and industry, Healy found her area of interest leaned away from laboratory work. "My colleagues took different routes to me. I decided to do a postgrad diploma in dietetics," she says.

As a dietician, the route she took "is most definitely longer but it suited me quite well". After graduation, Healy went to Glasgow's Caledonian University for two years. This included six months practical training at Belfast's Royal Victoria Hosptial. There were eight in the class, including Healy and one girl from Co Donegal. Belfast "was a great experience. It's a very large hospital. I was there with three more students. They have a very large dietetician department. They have a staff of about ten dieticians. I'm one of five here in Cork. It's extremely practical - you're putting it all into practice."

After Belfast she moved back to Cork and, after a few locums in some of the city's hospitals, she says, "I was very lucky. I got a job here in November 1995. It's great."

Today she works in the cardiology area. Her case load can include heart attack patients and diabetes and gastro-enterology patients. In spite of some misconceptions about what dieticians do, she explains that "not only do I see patients about weight reduction, but I also see patients about increasing weight", such as those who need building up after surgery.

Her interest in the science of nutrition is as strong as ever. "It's an area that is ever expanding," she says. "It's always busy."