Lessons Learned
What I've Learned as a Dietetic Intern
Hello everyone! I am excited to say that I am about halfway done with my dietetic internship at Cal Poly SLO! Woohoo!
So far, I have finished my food service rotation, elective rotation, and completed 2 out of 3 of my community rotations. Every single rotation has given me a different experience in such a unique way.
I was really confident going into my food service rotation. My past work experience has been solely in food service, so I felt like I already had a good foundation of knowledge to start off with. My only concern was that I would be working in a hospital setting, and I had never worked in that type of setting before. I didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t sure how different the service would be from a restaurant versus a hospital. However, I did learn a lot! While I was there, I was introduced to the different types of diets patients are prescribed, and got to see how the food is specially prepared for them. I also was able to perform nutrient analysis reports, develop recipes, and work alongside the food service team!
After my food service rotation I then proceeded to my elective rotation. I decided I wanted to work with treatment of eating disorders and recovery. I got to intern for a private practice where I was able to learn all the intricate details that come with running your own dietetic service! I learned so much about the different types of eating disorders and how to work through them. I also got to sit in on therapy sessions and observe how they are conducted (I have realized that there is a lot of psychology that goes into it). I was really happy to get the opportunity to do my elective rotation here.
Lastly, for my community rotations, so far I have worked with the Food Bank, and a school district! These were both awesome experiences. I got the chance to create lot of nutrition education materials for the community, as well as develop recipes, create wellness materials, and organize nutrition presentations! I would also like to mention that I learned that I really enjoyed working with kids! I'm thinking it could definitely be a possible career path for me. I'm so glad I was able to experience working at the school district, because I was able to discover this unknown passion I had.
My experience so far in this dietetic internship program has been nothing less than amazing. I’ve gotten the chance to work with some pretty amazing people. As a dietetic intern, my biggest lesson I’ve learned would be to be ADAPTABLE. All of my rotations have been really different from one another, and they’ve demanded a different set of skills for each of them. I’ve learned that if I want to be successful I must be adaptable; and in order to do this I must:
Be a better listener
Ask questions
Be willing to make mistakes
Be flexible
Be positive
Be open-minded
Learn from my peers
Continuously learn
Get comfortable with being uncomfortable
Comments