Quality over Quantity
When I reflect on my rotations each week, I feel grateful for the experiences I have had, the people I have met, and the opportunities I have been given.
At this point, I have had experience in all areas of dietetics: clinical, community, and now I am currently in my first foodservice rotation. I can definitely say that being in this internship, working with different preceptors, and being able to work at different locations around San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria has really opened up my view to the various career possibilities for dietitians.
Even if you think to yourself, “I will never work in foodservice or I don’t see myself ever working in a hospital,” it is important to keep your mind open during the internship because you may be surprised how your feelings or attitudes change when you are physically being immersed in the role – I know mine have.
CLINICAL:
In my clinical rotation, I learned the importance of being concise, managing my time well, and being able to develop rapport to form connections with patients.
One of my favorite parts of the clinical rotation was providing patient education. There is something about nutrition education, and interacting with patients that lights me up for this practice possibility.
Preparing for an education consult on carbohydrate counting with a diabetic patient.
COMMUNITY:
In my community research rotation, I had the opportunity to develop plant-based, budget-friendly recipes for athletes as well as create a 25 Days of Healthy Living Social Media Wellness Challenge for the CalFresh Healthy Living Project at Cal Poly.
Lentil kale salad with a strawberry vinaigrette that I developed as a post-endurance recovery meal for a plant-based athlete.
Next, I went to Santa Barbara County Public Health where I was immersed in a whole range of experiences.
· Traversed Santa Maria with an Environmental health agent to do public health and food safety inspections
· Worked as line control at a COVID vaccine clinic
· Created recipe demonstration videos in Spanish using all WIC-approved foods.
· Participated in breastfeeding support appointments with lactation consultants
· Practiced my counseling skills with WIC participants over the phone and with patients at the outpatient health clinic
Reading up on nutrition for infants to prepare for a counseling session.
Recipe video making blueberry banana overnight oats as a healthy meal prep option for families and their young children.
One great thing about this rotation was that I was able to build and practice my conversational Spanish skills as a majority of the population is Spanish-speaking!
FOODSERVICE
So far in foodservice in the hospital, I have observed the foodservice staff, diet aids, and worked alongside them in the kitchen. I was also given the task of organizing and making a standard procedure for the hospital nourishment rooms and I have created new plant-based standardized recipes for the hospital to potentially offer.
Picture of the improved organization of one of the nourishment rooms.
While I have learned so many things about nutrition and dietetics in each rotation, I honestly feel like being an intern in general and being able to get to know my preceptors and the career paths they have had has taught me a lot of life lessons that I can use well beyond the internship.
One of my preceptors gave me a book to read that talks about making quality the key ingredient for everything you do. This not only relates to work but to everyday life as well. The quality of education and care we are going to provide as dietitians is going to be the most important in the end. If you love what you do and are passionate about it, it will be much easier to produce and perform everything at a consistently excellent level of quality.
Overall, the experiences I have had, the things I have learned, and the amount of personal growth I have already seen in myself as an individual and a dietetics professional have all been well worth it. Each rotation has allowed me to step out of my comfort zone in multiple ways and I have learned so much along the way. There is really something special to be said about how stepping out of your comfort zone can truly be the stimulus for immense growth.
Whatever you do, remember to be yourself, take pride in your work, put your best effort in, and most importantly enjoy this time in your life because you will learn and grow so much along the way!
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