The Superwoman of Clinical Dietetics
Imagine you were a patient in the hospital for a second—I know, a terrible image, but just humor me for a moment. Imagine you were sick and not feeling well, maybe sad because your family wasn’t able to come visit you for the day. Imagine then that all of a sudden you hear a *knock, knock* at your door and a small, happy woman enters. She smiles at you kindly as she asks whether you’re enjoying the food and how your appetite has been. She takes your meal preferences and asks if there’s anything else she can do for you before thanking you for your time and sings an upbeat “take care!” as she exits the room quietly. She was nice, you think as you lay back down to take a much deserved nap.
Now picture a busy hospital environment (bear with me here, I’m proving a point!) and a trauma patient just got wheeled into the ICU. Machines are beeping, nurses are talking fast, it’s practically a scene right out of Grey’s Anatomy. Suddenly the doors to the ICU swing open and a petite brunette walks in, all business. She sits down at the nearest computer and she starts typing out calculations a mile a minute. She scribbles on her paper some random looking numbers. “Are we feeding the intubated patient in room 3? Recommendations call for feeding within 24-48 hours!” She calls out to one of the frantic looking nurses. “I got the tube feeding recommendations for the intubated patient in room 5 when you’re ready for them,” she says to the grumpy looking doctor across the room.
So who is this mighty superwoman-esque lady who can go from all smiles in a patient’s room to all business in the ICU? It’s my clinical preceptor, Shannon Burman! Jack of all trades, Shannon excels in her role as clinical nutrition manager in all aspects (and there are many aspects). She’s able to flawlessly juggle patient care, patient advocacy, management, and precepting, among other daily tasks. So how did she get to where she is now, and what makes her such a good preceptor?
Shannon first discovered her love for nutrition through her love of San Luis Obispo, the people here, and the Cal Poly campus. She applied for the nutrition major on a whim, and soon discovered her love of nutrition when she participated in a meal packaging event for Feed my Starving Children, a non-profit that connects food distributors with hungry children throughout the world. She says, “In that moment, I was so humbled by the reality I did absolutely nothing to be born into the family I was born into... and that I was able to get an education. It felt like such a gift and I knew then that I wanted to use that gift to all its potential which meant becoming a dietitian.”
Shannon developed her passion for clinical dietetics during her senior year at Cal Poly when she discovered how clinical dietetics is the foundation to all other areas of dietetics practice. She also loves education, and although the hospital isn’t always the best place to educate patients, she loves how motivated people are to change when they’re in the hospital setting, and enjoys debunking nutrition myths. Her passion for education is also why Shannon loves precepting! When asked what her favorite part of precepting was, she responded “I love to educate. I love seeing interns grow from stumbling through educations or being a deer in headlights to having confidence and educating patients like a pro.”
This is what makes her an excellent preceptor! Similar to how Shannon is able to balance all of her roles as a clinical nutrition manager, she’s also able to balance being supportive yet challenging as a preceptor. She pushes me to be the best intern I can be, and at the same time is able to tell me when I’m doing a good job. She expects me to be on top of my game at all times, and even quizzes me to prove that she means business! This has improved my knowledge immensely by challenging me to explain my reasoning behind my decisions and at the same time has made me more confident in my medical nutrition therapy knowledge.
But no matter what she’s doing, Shannon does everything with a smile. She’s an excellent role model and mentor, and I am so thankful that I’m able to work with the superwoman of clinical dietetics!