Follow Your Passion
Let’s get to know Registered Dietitian, Haley Peterson!
Haley Peterson is currently the culinary dietitian at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, and works primarily within food service management. Haley is responsible for providing nutritionally adequate, safe, tasty, and sustainable quality food to Cottage Hospital’s patients. She sometimes also helps assist in clinical rounds, and counseling.
How she got started:
Haley’s initial interest in the field of dietetics started in her high school years. She became involved in cross country her Sophomore year, and she wanted to learn more about how to eat healthy to help keep her strong, and in good shape. After high school, Haley pursued a higher education at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where she earned her bachelor's degree in nutrition. After earning her degree, she then set to complete her dietetic internship at Oregon State University.
Advice for current/ future dietetic interns:
When asked if she has any advice for current interns or interns who are planning on starting their dietetic internship soon, Haley said:
BE OPEN
“Be very open to all of your rotations. Going into a rotation you may think you’re going to love it and you may end up realizing that you don’t (and vise-versa). You may think you’re going to hate something, but then you’re like ‘Oh my gosh, I want to be here. This is exactly where I want to be.’ So be open, for sure.”
MAKE THE MOST OUT OF IT
“You get out what you put in. If you are grinding, and diligent, and being a self-starter throughout your internship, you will succeed. Your preceptors are there to help guide you, but you also get so much more out of it if you are self-directed.”
APPLY TO MORE THAN JUST YOUR TOP 2 CHOICES
“For people who are just starting to look to apply, apply to more places than you think. You want to apply to at least 4 internships.”
Haley’s Hobbies:
When asked what she likes to do in her free time, Haley responded with: she absolutely loves anything and everything to do with the outdoors. She really enjoys hiking, as well as playing and walking her dog, Pepper. Lastly, she also loves to cook!
Thank You Haley:
As an aspiring dietitian, I look forward to my future work in hopes of making a positive impact in people’s lives, the same way Haley has done with me. Throughout my time with her, she displayed so much kindness, enthusiasm, and has given me so much support as my preceptor. I can’t thank her enough for all of the patience, guidance, and encouragement she has given me. Going into this internship, I never gave the idea of myself going into food service management much thought. However, after working closely with Haley, she has definitely sparked my interest and it just might be a possible career path I may take.
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