Growth Through Adversity
Hello, everyone! Oh my goodness, I can’t believe that there is only 2 more months left of this internship!!! I literally feel like orientation happened not too long ago, hah! It’s crazy to think how fast everything has gone by. Welp, throughout my time here, I’ve been able to learn so much as to what being a dietetics professional is all about.
In my food service rotation, I learned how to assess the strengths and needs of services, programs, and projects related to food services. I also was able to identify, obtain, and interpret information relevant to clients for the purpose of meeting the goals of the organization, and improving their client satisfaction. Some responsibilities included: recipe development, food production, management of materials, conducting food safety audits, monitoring client satisfaction, and more.
For my community rotation I was able to develop nutrition programs designed to prevent disease and promote health, targeting particular groups of people. I also provided food and nutrition information, as well as support different population groups to improve their health. For example, during my time at the Santa Barbara Food Bank I was able to work on a few projects that would target the adolescence group. As for my time at Goleta School District, I was working for children and their families. Lastly, during my time at Sansum Diabetes Research Institute, I was able to provide nutrition support projects for pregnant women with gestational diabetes.
As for my clinical rotation, I am currently 7 weeks into it, and although it could get a bit overwhelming, I feel like I am learning an unbelievably large amount of knowledge. Every day I am learning something new, and I feel that I have made the most growth as a dietetic professional during this time. I believe that in order to grow, I have to be put in uncomfortable situations and embrace it. I am constantly out of my comfort zone here, and I am always learning and experiencing something new. A few things I’ve accomplished here so far are: interviewing patients, coming up with the best nutrition interventions for them, as well as providing different diet educations. I’m only half way through this rotation, so I am sure there is still so much in store for me to learn.
Here are a few tips for current/upcoming dietetic interns:
Be patient with yourself. (You might make a few mistakes at first, but that's okay! Mistakes help you LEARN).
Take notes.
Take initiative.
Most of all, BE THANKFUL.
I am so thankful for all of my experiences thus far. I am definitely appreciating every moment throughout this internship, because it will all soon be over. Right now is the time to be extremely open minded, and to be thankful for every opportunity that challenges me and requires me to think outside the box, because it is all helping to mold me into a better future RD.
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