Both an Internist and a Registered Nutritionist-Dietitian
Dr. Ivan Kenneth Zapanta, RND, MD is one of the very few Filipino physicians who holds both a Registered Nutritionist-Dietitian license and a Doctor of Medicine degree. He completed his BS Nutrition at UP Diliman, his MD at UST, his Internal Medicine residency at Makati Medical Center, and a Medical Nutrition Fellowship at St. Luke’s Medical Center.
His academic training and clinical specialization overlap in a way that is unusual in Philippine medicine. Most patients with chronic disease see a physician for the prescription and a dietitian for the food advice — in separate appointments, with separate plans that may not fully align. Dr. Ivan does both in one consultation, with the prescription and the nutrition plan built around the same clinical reasoning.