Dietitianing for Newbies: From the First Paycheck to Paying it Forward
I am still getting used to the sound of my own voice when I introduce myself “Hi, I’m Bonnie, I’ll be your registered dietitian.” This is something I get to tell clients every single day! When I think back to the start of my DPD program, I remember treating RDs as celebrities who I would want an autograph from and sheepishly request to take a picture with them. Now I share their title! I hope this post will serve as a brief point of reference into the (almost) year after graduating from the DI. I also hope to offer guidance to new DI graduates on how to navigate the months after completing your internship!
I was fortunate enough to be offered a job the week that I passed my exam. The relationships I built prior to my internship not only assisted me in being a strong applicant for the internship, they also provided me with my first paycheck as an RD. I started working at an outpatient treatment center for eating disorders less than three months after our DI graduation. I had my first official session as an RD with a client one-on-one just two weeks later! I am so grateful for the client counseling and motivational interviewing experience I had from the internship which greatly prepared me to walk into that session with confidence! The Cal Poly SLO Dietetic Internship gave me practical skills which I have now applied on the job. Also, if you have connections from before the internship, or made during the internship, make sure to keep in contact with them for job search resources!
Another part of the DI that I put into practice weekly as an RD is contributing to the interdisciplinary team of clinicians. Our team has weekly meetings with all staff and once a month we read a journal article together to keep ourselves fresh with current research in the field. During my first meeting at work, I felt confident contributing to the discussion and treated it like just another Monday class in the DI which prepared me for adding my expertise as a member of the dietary team! This confidence helped me assert myself as a competent dietitian and established me beyond my title of “New RD.”
I expected the DI to prepare me to be an entry level dietitian, and I am happy to report that it did! What I wasn’t expecting, and was pleasantly surprised by, was the leadership opportunities the internship provided to me. I enjoyed attending Coastal Tri-Counties District meetings and events so much that I decided to join the board! I believe there is a great deal to gain from giving back to this field. I value the opportunity to grow dietetics and promote our profession in the healthcare industry as valuable providers and clinicians who are the true nutrition experts. The dietetics profession is full of career possibilities and opportunities for passive income for dietitians. The more dietitians there are advocating for the profession and promoting our services, the more likely we will see improvements in wages and increased reimbursements from medical insurance companies. I urge all RDs and Future RDs to be involved at any capacity to build our collective brand as dietitians!
By far the best part of the internship was the friendships I formed with my cohort and with Kati. They were the first people I texted when I passed the RD exam. We still text in our group chat, and when I’m at work and I feel like a struggling intern again, I reach out to them for moral support as well as for nutritional knowledge and clinical guidance. Dietitians are a unique bunch who have a built-in bond from shared experiences and common goals to help others find optimal health. My RD friends and I plan trips around events offering Continuing Professional Education Units (CPEUs). We pick destinations that will make great weekend trips and look for events being hosted there! Remember, your 75 CPEUs are not going to earn themselves! They don’t have to feel like homework either! They are opportunities to expand our knowledge of nutrition, and they can be chances to spend time with RD friends who we don’t get to see as much after the internship. I hope you hold tight to the relationships you formed in the DI and know that they are worth the effort to maintain personally and professionally!
There are many paths to take after graduating the DI. I hope whichever route you find yourself on energizes you and motivates you every day!