When the Clinical Rotation is your FIRST Rotation

Coming into the end of my ninth week of my clinical rotation at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital all I can say is - I cannot believe how much I love acute care and the clinical setting!

Finding out that my first rotation was going to be clinical, notorious for being the longest and most challenging rotation, initially I was a little nervous. It can be daunting to walk into the dietitians' office, where people you don’t know and who you will be learning from over the course of 12 weeks, are working and talking about things that can often feel like they are over your head. I am here to tell you that this feeling subsides pretty quickly, and I find myself looking forward to each day I get to be there.

There is a huge learning curve coming right into clinical, and not just about medical nutrition therapy or the nutrition care process. There are so many logistical things to get set up, and then there is learning how to navigate, both within the hospital (yes, I have gotten lost on numerous occasions, it’s a big place!) and within the multiple databases and platforms for patients and charting. This will come to be more manageable pretty quickly and feel like second nature after a few weeks.

I am lucky to be at a large facility working with many dietitians who have specialties in nutrition support, diabetes, cancer, pediatrics, cardiac and renal care. Everyone has been patient and helpful, allowing me to feel more and more comfortable to ask questions and seek out specifics around different disease states. In addition to the dietitians being so open and welcoming of me, I am continuously moved by the patients at the hospital and their willingness to provide specific information to me as a student during a time of likely distress for them and their families. Almost everyone is friendly and happy to talk with me. Getting to talk with patients and offering them information (or sometimes snacks) that can be comforting always makes me feel good.

The most important thing I can say I have learned up to this point though is that the feedback provided by my preceptors, whether it be about my notes, my speed or my questions, is all valuable. There is no growth without constructive feedback and guidance. I don’t say constructive criticism because not once have I felt criticized. Each preceptor I have worked with thus far has offered me a different approach to patient care, note writing, and research into medical nutrition therapy. I feel I have grown and gained a lot of confidence since that first day I started nine weeks back. That couldn’t have happened if I didn’t feel challenged regularly or witnessed compassion on a daily basis. This has provided me with the tools and guidance to steer me in the direction of becoming the type of dietitian I want to be.

I will be moving on to another rotation in a few weeks. I know that what I have learned during my time at Cottage Hospital will help me immensely in any of my upcoming rotations. I will feel more comfortable to ask my future preceptors questions. I will feel more relaxed interacting with patients or members of any population, children and adults alike, who I get the pleasure to work with. I know how to better navigate researching information that can be useful and beneficial to projects and patient care. I am excited to take the tools I have gained from my clinical rotation and use them during the remainder of my internship and when I become an RD as well.