The Field of Dietetics-Let’s Wander It

Clinical. Community. Food service management. To be precise, 448 hours clinical, 384 hours community, and 256 hours food service management. That’s the amount of time I’ll have spent in the three concentrations within the field of dietetics by the end of my internship. I’m about halfway through right now and have realized that the umbrella term of dietetics I just described is much more complex than those three subdivisions. And all the more exciting. It’s a network. There’s not only crossover of these subdivisions at one worksite but also in one job position alone.

I went into my first rotation at French Hospital Medical Center for an eight-week food service management rotation. I walked out with bits and pieces of clinical experience, and a whole lot of connections through the community that I’d see and hear from in future rotations. In my clinical rotation at DaVita Dialysis, I charted, wrote PES statements and counseled patients with renal failure on dialysis. My main take away however was the familial sense I got walking through the treatment room, lined with rows of patients sharing common experiences and attitudes and staff who knew much more about their patients than just lab values.

I am currently working in a unique community rotation. It’s a corporate wellness practice by the name of MVME Wellness. The founder, Julian Varela, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. He integrates his background of health and wellness into his work as a counselor as well as his employee wellness programs. My favorite thing he does is take his clients for walks instead of the traditional scene you picture with the client on the couch and the therapist sitting cross legged nearby.

Within this rotation, I’ve experienced a variety of job duties like creating presentations for lunch and learns given to employees, leading one on one counseling sessions with employees and existing clients of Julian’s, and even witnessing a broadcasted interview between Julian and the psychologist who he originally was an associate for.

Besides the wide range of experiences I’ve encountered in the rotations thus far, I’ve also broadened my initial perception of what a career in dietetics could look like. I thought I needed to choose one. Clinical, community, or food service management. This was challenging for me from the day I started looking at internships. Choosing a program with a concentration that you

think is the best field for you before you even have much experience in the field is overwhelming.

Now that I’ve done at least one rotation in each of the three areas, I’ve decided to choose them all. I choose the leadership and communication skills I strengthened following the Food and Nutrition Services Director at the hospital. I choose the ability to build connections and provide resources to others that I witnessed under the Wellness Promotion Team at the county health department. And I choose both the empathy and critical thinking necessary when you are sitting across from a patient or client, arriving at a solution together.

Whatever environment I choose to work in as an entry level RD after this internship, I now know that I won’t be restricted by any dimensions I originally envisioned. I could mix and match, do a little of this and a little of that, or even create a brand new category to go under the umbrella.