I survived my first 7 days at WIC! Only 13 more to go and trust me, I am counting down to the end. For my internship, I spend 120 hours at WIC and 8 of those hours at a non-profit or government agency. This is only my second rotation (finished 13 weeks of FSM and School Nutrition Education). I can't wait to finished up this rotation; not only because it is stressful, but because I will have 2 weeks off before I start my in-patient clinical rotation :)
So, here are some of my tips for your Community/WIC rotations:
Things to Do Before Your Rotation:
1. Brush up on WIC packages, how participants get certified, and issues in both pregnancy and infants (mainly iron-deficiency).
2. Know your assignment sheet! My rotation is only 4 weeks long; so it is important to know how to schedule assignments efficiently.
Things to Do Your First Day:
1. Sit in with as many Nutritionists as you can. Get a feel for the different styles of counseling.
2. Grab as many brochures as you can in the office. These are really useful in counseling and for quick reference.
Things I learned:
1. No matter how nice you are, some participants will not give you the time of day. Just continue to be nice and try to counteract their rudeness.
2. You will learn everything you need to know about WIC within your first week. Someone told me this before I started and it was definitely true! I sat in on multiple counseling sessions my first day and I quickly began to get the hang of the WIC packages and most common problems (iron-deficiency anemia, high juice intake, low vegetable intake, etc).
3. Bring a laptop/assignments to work on! If it rained at my location, very very few people came into the office. That being said, you will have a lot of downtime.
4. Don't be afraid to ask questions about the charting system. Some nutritionists I sat in with, would just start typing their normal note, and I would have no clue what they were doing. They might not even think about showing you what they are doing, so just jump in and ask, or scoot in closer to see.
5. WIC used a really interesting format of chart note: A (Assessment), B (Biochemical), C (Clinical), D (Dietary), E (Environmental: mostly if anyone smoked in the house), O (Other), G (Goal: These are mostly added after the participant leaves). It was a lot simpler than I was imagining; however, with the short amount of time between participants, it is perfect for them.
Hope these tips help you on your RD journey!
Friday, November 29, 2013
Thursday, November 21, 2013
End of FSM Rotation
Last week, I finished my first rotation of my dietetic internship (Foodservice management and school nutrition education)! It felt like the 13 weeks flew by!
Some of the things I did during my rotation included:
-Menu planning: created a 6-week cycle menu for the school district; input menu items into PrimeroEdge system (similar to that of NutriKids); assigned menus for the district; created new recipes (and taste tested them); ran nutrient analysis of the menu items to ensure that they met the guidelines for SLP.
-Kitchen work: observed/participated in ordering, inventory, serving, food prep, temperature/sanitation check, etc.
-Lesson planning: taught a 3-day lesson for 6th grade students; taught a fitness/nutrition lesson for 1st and 2nd graders; in-service for staff members.
-Research project: I created a new chickpea salad, had it taste-tested, and put it on the menu. I was trying to determine if increasing student involvement in the planning of new items and implementing the changes they made, would increase consumption.
-Miscellaneous work: answered phone calls in the office; organized nutrition materials, made posters for events, etc.
Things I learned throughout my rotation:
1. Always, always, always ask questions! Sometimes, I felt like I was bothering people asking them; however, everyone was really friendly and there to help. The internship is to help you learn more about nutrition, so asking questions about things you are not sure of is needed.
2. Be confident in what you know and how you speak about it. If you sound unsure, people won't trust what you say. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you know more than you think!
3. Before a food service rotation (in a school district), brush up on food safety, the school lunch program, and food science (I definitely didn't study much on food science until I realized I needed to know some for my rotation).
4. Nurses would call a lot about carbohydrate counts for menu items in order to give insulin to the kids with diabetes. If you find yourself answering these types of questions be sure to have menu nutritionals on hand (I found nurses to be calling last minute and frantic).
5. Get as many resources as you can from the RD or FS manager. My RD had a SafeServ book, Inman's Review, and miscellaneous lesson/training binders, which will all be helpful in studying for the RD exam. She also mentioned she only used Inman's Review for the RD exam and passed the first time.
6. Take the initiative on projects and tasks whenever you can. Not only will this give you great experience, but, it will also show the staff you are committed and a team player. Even doing small tasks without complaint are noticed.
7. If you find downtime in your rotation, read food service related materials (I found this to be helpful when taking my comprehensive exam) and/or ask what else you could be doing to help.
8. Be flexible! Things will not always go to plan. Just roll with the punches and do what you can to make the situation run smoothly.
9. Accept the changes that happen. This kind of goes along with number 8. One day you may have planned to do x, y, and z; however, you may get something new thrown your way. An employee (or 5) might call out, and you need to help in the kitchen. A truck may have broken down and you need to drive the manager around. Anything can change in foodservice! (By the way, these things have all happened in my rotation).
10. Be ahead/aware of all your assignments/tasks. You never know when something will come up that relates to an assignment. It really helps to have your assignment sheet on hand.
Overall, I had an amazing rotation. It was stressful at some points; however, in the end, I wouldn't have changed anything. I really feel like I developed/fine tuned my leadership and interpersonal skills.
Hopefully, my experiences will help you in preparing/finishing your food service rotations!
Some of the things I did during my rotation included:
-Menu planning: created a 6-week cycle menu for the school district; input menu items into PrimeroEdge system (similar to that of NutriKids); assigned menus for the district; created new recipes (and taste tested them); ran nutrient analysis of the menu items to ensure that they met the guidelines for SLP.
-Kitchen work: observed/participated in ordering, inventory, serving, food prep, temperature/sanitation check, etc.
-Lesson planning: taught a 3-day lesson for 6th grade students; taught a fitness/nutrition lesson for 1st and 2nd graders; in-service for staff members.
-Research project: I created a new chickpea salad, had it taste-tested, and put it on the menu. I was trying to determine if increasing student involvement in the planning of new items and implementing the changes they made, would increase consumption.
-Miscellaneous work: answered phone calls in the office; organized nutrition materials, made posters for events, etc.
Things I learned throughout my rotation:
1. Always, always, always ask questions! Sometimes, I felt like I was bothering people asking them; however, everyone was really friendly and there to help. The internship is to help you learn more about nutrition, so asking questions about things you are not sure of is needed.
2. Be confident in what you know and how you speak about it. If you sound unsure, people won't trust what you say. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you know more than you think!
3. Before a food service rotation (in a school district), brush up on food safety, the school lunch program, and food science (I definitely didn't study much on food science until I realized I needed to know some for my rotation).
4. Nurses would call a lot about carbohydrate counts for menu items in order to give insulin to the kids with diabetes. If you find yourself answering these types of questions be sure to have menu nutritionals on hand (I found nurses to be calling last minute and frantic).
5. Get as many resources as you can from the RD or FS manager. My RD had a SafeServ book, Inman's Review, and miscellaneous lesson/training binders, which will all be helpful in studying for the RD exam. She also mentioned she only used Inman's Review for the RD exam and passed the first time.
6. Take the initiative on projects and tasks whenever you can. Not only will this give you great experience, but, it will also show the staff you are committed and a team player. Even doing small tasks without complaint are noticed.
7. If you find downtime in your rotation, read food service related materials (I found this to be helpful when taking my comprehensive exam) and/or ask what else you could be doing to help.
8. Be flexible! Things will not always go to plan. Just roll with the punches and do what you can to make the situation run smoothly.
9. Accept the changes that happen. This kind of goes along with number 8. One day you may have planned to do x, y, and z; however, you may get something new thrown your way. An employee (or 5) might call out, and you need to help in the kitchen. A truck may have broken down and you need to drive the manager around. Anything can change in foodservice! (By the way, these things have all happened in my rotation).
10. Be ahead/aware of all your assignments/tasks. You never know when something will come up that relates to an assignment. It really helps to have your assignment sheet on hand.
Overall, I had an amazing rotation. It was stressful at some points; however, in the end, I wouldn't have changed anything. I really feel like I developed/fine tuned my leadership and interpersonal skills.
Hopefully, my experiences will help you in preparing/finishing your food service rotations!
Sunday, October 20, 2013
FSM Week 9: My Nutrition Promotional Event
Starting on Monday, I will be in my 10th week of my FSM rotation of my dietetic internship. This past week has been so fun and exciting; definitely one of my favorite parts of the internship (besides teaching).
October 14-18th was National School Lunch Week. I decided to run my nutrition promotion event (part of one of my rotation assignments) during that week. My event theme was NSLW: Fun with Fruits and Vegetables! I highlighted the featured vegetables and fruits on the menu. Since my facility was in between RDs and my new preceptor was super busy, I planned most of the event on my own. I spent a lot of time coordinating with the elementary school I would running my event in, talking to staff members, getting the PR coordinator involved, holding meetings, and creating materials/prizes for the kids. I started planning my event about 1 month in advance. I created bookmarks for the students (laminated them as well), brochures to send home to the parents, flyers for my table, and recipe cards for teachers and support staff. I also made posters highlighting the different fruits and vegetables with fun facts and nutrition information. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I just hung posters at the elementary school. Tuesday and Thursday I was at the school running different contests (guess the bean content of the jar and trivia questions) and giving out stickers/bookmarks for students who had a fruit or a vegetable on their tray.
About a week prior to the event, I discovered that the office I was working in had costumes in their closet; a pea pod and a banana. I was way too excited about wearing them! I also found out that the press would be coming on Thursday to interview me and take pictures!
My first day, Tuesday, of my event went so well! It was a bit crazy because the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade lunches overlapped. I felt like I was running around crazy (in a pea pod costume) trying to get student guesses for my bean costume. I also ran a lucky tray, in which 1-2 students from each lunch had a sticker on the bottom of their trays indicating they won a prize. Even with all of the craziness, the event went better than I could have hoped. The kids got so involved! One of my favorite parts was reading what the kids wrote on their guessing slips for the bean jar. One first grader wrote for a guess, "200, or 198." Other students wrote the #1 followed by as many zeros as would fill the line. (Total bean count for the jar was 16,438).
Thursday ran a lot smoother than Tuesday did. Since all of the kids had guessed the beans on Tuesday, I spent time taking pictures, handing out prizes, and asking trivia questions. The kids were so excited about the costumes, contests, and prizes. One student said, "You should wear that banana costume all the time, so I always know where you are." Another student said, "We should do stuff like this each week. Put it on the agenda." A lot of the students asked when I was coming back and what costume I would be wearing. It was so exciting to see the kids smiling and having a good time, all in the name of healthy eating!
While I was running around the cafeteria in my various costumes, teachers were saying things like, "Wow you must have drawn the short end of the stick," "Oh, the joys of being an intern." That was exactly the opposite of what I was thinking! I was more than excited to be prancing around in different costumes. I chose to wear the costumes (in place of a colored shirt). Seeing the kids' faces get excited was priceless to me. I wished they had more costumes for me to wear :)
October 14-18th was National School Lunch Week. I decided to run my nutrition promotion event (part of one of my rotation assignments) during that week. My event theme was NSLW: Fun with Fruits and Vegetables! I highlighted the featured vegetables and fruits on the menu. Since my facility was in between RDs and my new preceptor was super busy, I planned most of the event on my own. I spent a lot of time coordinating with the elementary school I would running my event in, talking to staff members, getting the PR coordinator involved, holding meetings, and creating materials/prizes for the kids. I started planning my event about 1 month in advance. I created bookmarks for the students (laminated them as well), brochures to send home to the parents, flyers for my table, and recipe cards for teachers and support staff. I also made posters highlighting the different fruits and vegetables with fun facts and nutrition information. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I just hung posters at the elementary school. Tuesday and Thursday I was at the school running different contests (guess the bean content of the jar and trivia questions) and giving out stickers/bookmarks for students who had a fruit or a vegetable on their tray.
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| One of the posters I created for the lunchroom. One student told me that I should be an artist :) |
My first day, Tuesday, of my event went so well! It was a bit crazy because the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade lunches overlapped. I felt like I was running around crazy (in a pea pod costume) trying to get student guesses for my bean costume. I also ran a lucky tray, in which 1-2 students from each lunch had a sticker on the bottom of their trays indicating they won a prize. Even with all of the craziness, the event went better than I could have hoped. The kids got so involved! One of my favorite parts was reading what the kids wrote on their guessing slips for the bean jar. One first grader wrote for a guess, "200, or 198." Other students wrote the #1 followed by as many zeros as would fill the line. (Total bean count for the jar was 16,438).
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| Day 1 Table Set-Up |
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| Pea Pod Costume! |
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| Day 2 Table Set-Up |
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| Picture Time! |
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| Banana Costume! |
After all my hard work, the story was put into 2 different newspapers! It was really exciting to have such good publicity for not only the school district, but also my internship program!
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Food Service Management Rotation: Tips and Information
This Monday, I will be heading into week 8 of my Food Service Management rotation of my Dietetic internship. It seems as though the time is flying by! I can't believe I am halfway through my longest rotation of my internship. Things have gotten a little more stressful; however, I found that being able to manage my time efficiently has worked to my benefit.
Throughout the past few weeks, I really had to step up, in terms of leadership and initiative. My old preceptor (an RD) had left to join the Navy. My new preceptor was the General Manager, who had a ton of things to do already. My new preceptor would run errands around the schools in the morning and attend various meetings. This left me alone in the office for the majority of the time. I found myself becoming the RD for the school district. All of the carb counting and menu nutrition questions came to me. I also sat at the RD desk and answered various parent and employee phone calls. Some of the calls were pretty basic (how do I load money on my child's account) while others required a lot more thought and time (child allergies and special diets).
The school district I am working with uses a program called PrimeroEdge, which is similar to NutriKids, just way more in depth and complicated. This program was where you inputted ingredients, recipes, and cycle menus for the district. It was my duty to create the menus in the system, and assign them to the schools in the district so they could complete their production records. The program is a very useful tool; however, the first few weeks were very difficult, as I was teaching myself how to use it. Once I mastered certain aspects of the program, things ran a lot smoother. One thing I had to consider was the slowness of the program. It is internet-based, so it gets very overloaded at certain times of the day (mid morning and late afternoon). Just adding in 1 ingredient to 1 day often took 5 minutes because of the webpage loading time. I had to plan when I would input and assign menus, so that I would not be using the program at its slow times.
The past few weeks were very stressful; however, the experiences I had strengthened my leadership and conflict negotiation skills. I also got much better at handling employee issues and multi-department management. I had to make a lot of decisions, so it was important to trust my knowledge and use good judgement. Management was very impressed with my work ethic and ability to handle what was thrown at me. I just did what I needed to do because at some times, no one else had the training I had to do it (answering carb or specific nutrient questions). It felt really good when upper management talked about me so highly to other administrative employees. I wasn't just an intern working there anymore. I had gained a lot more respect than that. When the new RD came in, I found myself training her. It was a very weird feeling for me, the intern, to be training someone in a higher up position, none-the-less, an RD. Much of what I trained her on was office procedures, PrimeroEdge (she had been using NutriKids), kitchen location, etc.
During her first week, the new RD had brought in a lot of materials for me to look through; including her RD test review binder, teaching resources, and a ServSafe training manual. The ServSafe book was a better resource for me than my college food service textbook. It laid out everything in a short and simple format. I would definitely suggest adding this to your resource library. She also brought in a book called "Strengths based Leadership." I haven't gotten a chance to read the whole book yet; however, after glancing through a few chapters, it is well worth the read.
Another major portion of my time over the past few weeks was spent on various lesson plans, presentations, and building promotional materials. My next blog will be on the lessons I taught and tips for teaching various age groups.
Tips for FSM Rotation
1. Whether you are in a distance or on-site program, it is really important to plan out your assignments at the beginning of your rotation. Try to knock out the easier assignments/tasks in the beginning. Since I needed my preceptor's help with scheduling things for other assignments, I tried to do what I could on my own.
2. Give your preceptor an updated assignment list after you have gone through a few weeks. My preceptor needed to be reminded of my assignments on a daily/weekly basis. He was very busy with other duties of his own, so this was pretty typical. It helped to scale down my assignment sheet to things that just dealt with him. It made it easier to work through assignments and get things planned ahead of time.
3. Be flexible! As much as planning is helpful, always be prepared to change up what you are doing. An employee might call about an issue that needs to be handled ASAP; you might have to switch up dates for meetings or presentations. Expect change to happen and roll with it. It will just make everything run a lot smoother.
4. Be able to multi-task. A lot of times I would be working on something (making a poster, writing a lesson) and I would get phone calls, or questions handed to me. Being able to handle multiple tasks, without stressing out, will really help your rotation run smoothly.
5. Work on negotiation and conflict resolution skills. If you haven't had much training or read a lot on these 2 topics, do so. I found myself researching them a lot as I moved through the leadership portion of my rotation.
Lastly, if you are still working at a job during your internship, kudos to you! If you are thinking about whether or not you should keep your job, know that it is manageable with the internship. I still maintain my position at a YMCA teaching nutrition. I have 7 different classes during the week that I teach. I am lucky, in that I was able to schedule the classes at a certain time that worked best for me. My earliest class starts at 4:45pm. This gives me enough time to get from my internship to the teaching site. While my weeks are very busy, it is manageable with proper scheduling and time management!
Throughout the past few weeks, I really had to step up, in terms of leadership and initiative. My old preceptor (an RD) had left to join the Navy. My new preceptor was the General Manager, who had a ton of things to do already. My new preceptor would run errands around the schools in the morning and attend various meetings. This left me alone in the office for the majority of the time. I found myself becoming the RD for the school district. All of the carb counting and menu nutrition questions came to me. I also sat at the RD desk and answered various parent and employee phone calls. Some of the calls were pretty basic (how do I load money on my child's account) while others required a lot more thought and time (child allergies and special diets).
The school district I am working with uses a program called PrimeroEdge, which is similar to NutriKids, just way more in depth and complicated. This program was where you inputted ingredients, recipes, and cycle menus for the district. It was my duty to create the menus in the system, and assign them to the schools in the district so they could complete their production records. The program is a very useful tool; however, the first few weeks were very difficult, as I was teaching myself how to use it. Once I mastered certain aspects of the program, things ran a lot smoother. One thing I had to consider was the slowness of the program. It is internet-based, so it gets very overloaded at certain times of the day (mid morning and late afternoon). Just adding in 1 ingredient to 1 day often took 5 minutes because of the webpage loading time. I had to plan when I would input and assign menus, so that I would not be using the program at its slow times.
The past few weeks were very stressful; however, the experiences I had strengthened my leadership and conflict negotiation skills. I also got much better at handling employee issues and multi-department management. I had to make a lot of decisions, so it was important to trust my knowledge and use good judgement. Management was very impressed with my work ethic and ability to handle what was thrown at me. I just did what I needed to do because at some times, no one else had the training I had to do it (answering carb or specific nutrient questions). It felt really good when upper management talked about me so highly to other administrative employees. I wasn't just an intern working there anymore. I had gained a lot more respect than that. When the new RD came in, I found myself training her. It was a very weird feeling for me, the intern, to be training someone in a higher up position, none-the-less, an RD. Much of what I trained her on was office procedures, PrimeroEdge (she had been using NutriKids), kitchen location, etc.
During her first week, the new RD had brought in a lot of materials for me to look through; including her RD test review binder, teaching resources, and a ServSafe training manual. The ServSafe book was a better resource for me than my college food service textbook. It laid out everything in a short and simple format. I would definitely suggest adding this to your resource library. She also brought in a book called "Strengths based Leadership." I haven't gotten a chance to read the whole book yet; however, after glancing through a few chapters, it is well worth the read.
Another major portion of my time over the past few weeks was spent on various lesson plans, presentations, and building promotional materials. My next blog will be on the lessons I taught and tips for teaching various age groups.
Tips for FSM Rotation
1. Whether you are in a distance or on-site program, it is really important to plan out your assignments at the beginning of your rotation. Try to knock out the easier assignments/tasks in the beginning. Since I needed my preceptor's help with scheduling things for other assignments, I tried to do what I could on my own.
2. Give your preceptor an updated assignment list after you have gone through a few weeks. My preceptor needed to be reminded of my assignments on a daily/weekly basis. He was very busy with other duties of his own, so this was pretty typical. It helped to scale down my assignment sheet to things that just dealt with him. It made it easier to work through assignments and get things planned ahead of time.
3. Be flexible! As much as planning is helpful, always be prepared to change up what you are doing. An employee might call about an issue that needs to be handled ASAP; you might have to switch up dates for meetings or presentations. Expect change to happen and roll with it. It will just make everything run a lot smoother.
4. Be able to multi-task. A lot of times I would be working on something (making a poster, writing a lesson) and I would get phone calls, or questions handed to me. Being able to handle multiple tasks, without stressing out, will really help your rotation run smoothly.
5. Work on negotiation and conflict resolution skills. If you haven't had much training or read a lot on these 2 topics, do so. I found myself researching them a lot as I moved through the leadership portion of my rotation.
Lastly, if you are still working at a job during your internship, kudos to you! If you are thinking about whether or not you should keep your job, know that it is manageable with the internship. I still maintain my position at a YMCA teaching nutrition. I have 7 different classes during the week that I teach. I am lucky, in that I was able to schedule the classes at a certain time that worked best for me. My earliest class starts at 4:45pm. This gives me enough time to get from my internship to the teaching site. While my weeks are very busy, it is manageable with proper scheduling and time management!
Monday, August 26, 2013
First Week of FSM Rotation
This past week, I completed my first 5 days of my food service management rotation. Overall, I think the rotation went pretty well. I attended a lot of meetings and in-service trainings, so I was able to meet most of the staff that I would be seeing throughout my rotation. It was very interesting to see the dynamic among the food service workers in the schools. A lot of the employees had strong bonds and cliches with other employees of their specific school. I could see the vast amount of support both the food service workers and managers had for one another. That is something I will come to appreciate even more throughout my tougher weeks of my internship.
I found myself having a lot of time to work on assignments and plan/prepare upcoming projects and studies. It was definitely helpful for me to bring my laptop, assignment binder, and resources to pull ideas from.
Before leaving for the weekend, I received some unexpected news from my preceptor and the general manager. I was super nervous before the 3 of us sat down for the meeting. My preceptor had said, 15 minutes before, that her and the boss needed to speak with me about something. I don't know about anyone else, but, my immediate thought was, "Uh-oh, what did I do?" After stopping my train of negative, rash thoughts, I reminded myself that it was my first week, and it was probably something un-related to me.
Much to my surprise, I was informed that my preceptor would be leaving that next Friday to join the Navy as an RD! While this was very exciting news for her, I was a little worried about the rest of my rotation. Who would become my preceptor? Did they know all of the work involved? Would I be able to complete everything that was required of me?
Again, once I calmed myself from my racing thoughts, I came to realize that I could do this. It was just another bump in the road. Plus, I not only had the support of the management team and staff; however, I also had the support of my internship director and fellow interns. Having an RD for food service management wasn't a requirement for my program, so I was lucky enough to have one as my preceptor. It was decided that the general manager would be taking over the position as my preceptor. He is quite knowledgable and understands that I have a lot of different assignments required of me.
My current preceptor and I sat down this week to plan out all of the school nutrition assignments and set up meetings with who I needed to speak with. My preceptor is much more informed on not only general nutrition, but also nutrition education in schools. That being said, her and I worked together so that she could continue to be a resource to me for the last week of her working there.
Next week will definitely be a change with the school year up and going. Not only will management be down a staff member, but I will be working with a new preceptor. This situation reminds me of something that my internship director had said to me. It went something like "You can plan out what you want to do for food service and how you want your assignments to go; however, there will be some days that everything will just go completely off plan. You need to be ready to deal with whatever is there and be flexible." That statement has never been so true!
On a final note, I received an official badge from the school district I am working in. Under my name it says "Support Staff." Boy, do I feel important :):)
I found myself having a lot of time to work on assignments and plan/prepare upcoming projects and studies. It was definitely helpful for me to bring my laptop, assignment binder, and resources to pull ideas from.
Before leaving for the weekend, I received some unexpected news from my preceptor and the general manager. I was super nervous before the 3 of us sat down for the meeting. My preceptor had said, 15 minutes before, that her and the boss needed to speak with me about something. I don't know about anyone else, but, my immediate thought was, "Uh-oh, what did I do?" After stopping my train of negative, rash thoughts, I reminded myself that it was my first week, and it was probably something un-related to me.
Much to my surprise, I was informed that my preceptor would be leaving that next Friday to join the Navy as an RD! While this was very exciting news for her, I was a little worried about the rest of my rotation. Who would become my preceptor? Did they know all of the work involved? Would I be able to complete everything that was required of me?
Again, once I calmed myself from my racing thoughts, I came to realize that I could do this. It was just another bump in the road. Plus, I not only had the support of the management team and staff; however, I also had the support of my internship director and fellow interns. Having an RD for food service management wasn't a requirement for my program, so I was lucky enough to have one as my preceptor. It was decided that the general manager would be taking over the position as my preceptor. He is quite knowledgable and understands that I have a lot of different assignments required of me.
My current preceptor and I sat down this week to plan out all of the school nutrition assignments and set up meetings with who I needed to speak with. My preceptor is much more informed on not only general nutrition, but also nutrition education in schools. That being said, her and I worked together so that she could continue to be a resource to me for the last week of her working there.
Next week will definitely be a change with the school year up and going. Not only will management be down a staff member, but I will be working with a new preceptor. This situation reminds me of something that my internship director had said to me. It went something like "You can plan out what you want to do for food service and how you want your assignments to go; however, there will be some days that everything will just go completely off plan. You need to be ready to deal with whatever is there and be flexible." That statement has never been so true!
On a final note, I received an official badge from the school district I am working in. Under my name it says "Support Staff." Boy, do I feel important :):)
Monday, August 19, 2013
The First Day at My FSM Rotation
Today officially marks the start of my rotations! I started my dietetic internship in Food Service Management at an elementary school. The food service company I am working with has a contract with the whole district, which includes 16 different schools from grades K-12. I was lucky to begin in FSM before the school year started. I felt as though I was able to ease into the rotation, rather than just being thrown in mid-stream.
Going into my first day, I was pretty nervous. I wasn't sure what to expect of the managers, schedule, or workload. (Just a side note, I was so worried about being late that I got to my rotation site an hour early. My preceptor had a good laugh about that one. :)) Everyone I worked with today, my preceptor and additional staff members, were really great. My preceptor lead me on a tour of the school, gave me little tips about the co-workers and what to expect on a daily basis, and allowed me to ask as many questions as I needed. She also had tons of resources in her office for me to refer to when I worked on assignments.
I really felt that it was helpful to have all my assignments printed out for quick reference. A lot of times when my preceptor was talking, she would touch on a topic that related to an assignment I had. My director had suggested that I sit down with my preceptor in the first week to review the assignments and get a plan together on how to tackle them. Today, my preceptor and I worked through my assignment list very thoroughly. This really helped us both to understand all the assignments better and bounce ideas off of one another. My preceptor was open to any ideas that I had, which helped me feel more comfortable about what I was doing.
One of the major topics for today was the school lunch program. With all of the new guidelines in place for the school year, my preceptor has to work to update the menus to fit all nutritional requirements. I had reviewed the school lunch program prior to starting; however, it was very helpful to go in depth with my preceptor. I was able to look at menu templates and the programs they used for their schools. I had a little bit of down time (expect that when you begin your FSM rotation), so I was able to get working on my school lunch menu planning assignment. Planning a school lunch menu with all of the new guidelines is a lot more complicated than I thought. It helps to have charts printed out of all the grade group requirements and food component regulations for quick reference.
I was surprised at how many phone calls the office received when I was there today. It seemed as though the phone never stopped ringing with parents asking questions about the school lunch program, new employees asking about trainings, and potential employees calling about positions and job offers. With the students starting next week, a lot of food ordering had to get placed today too. I expect that I will be a lot busier once next week rolls around.
Overall, today was quite a success. Over the next few days, I will be meeting the principals, managers, and employees from other schools in the districts at the meetings and trainings they have scheduled. I am very excited to continue my journey to RD status!
I now leave you with my "laughable moment of the day":
I packed a lunch and some snacks for today which consisted of: carrots, celery, dressing, chickpeas with ranch, 1/2 sandwich with natural peanut butter and nutella, turkey jerky (made in my dehydrator), an apple, raw cashews, and 2 rice cakes. Now, I don't know about you, but besides the sandwich and jerky, I picked some noisy food. Let's set the scene. While the phone does ring a lot, when it doesn't ring, the office is dead silent. So, lunch rolls around and I break out my sandwich and my veggies. Starting with my quiet food first, I have no problems. I then move onto my carrots and celery sticks, which are not very quiet foods. I begin laughing because all I can hear is the obsessive crunch when I bit into my food. Let's face it, there is no quiet way to eat celery and carrots. Anyway, I don't think anyone else notices, or cares that I am crunching and chomping. I, however, begin to crack up at myself, and proceed to choke on my food. This wasn't a heimlich maneuver type of choke; however, I had one of those slight panic moments where you suck in too much food with air and do a cough-cough-large swallow. I think tomorrow I will will be packing cucumbers and grapes :)
Going into my first day, I was pretty nervous. I wasn't sure what to expect of the managers, schedule, or workload. (Just a side note, I was so worried about being late that I got to my rotation site an hour early. My preceptor had a good laugh about that one. :)) Everyone I worked with today, my preceptor and additional staff members, were really great. My preceptor lead me on a tour of the school, gave me little tips about the co-workers and what to expect on a daily basis, and allowed me to ask as many questions as I needed. She also had tons of resources in her office for me to refer to when I worked on assignments.
I really felt that it was helpful to have all my assignments printed out for quick reference. A lot of times when my preceptor was talking, she would touch on a topic that related to an assignment I had. My director had suggested that I sit down with my preceptor in the first week to review the assignments and get a plan together on how to tackle them. Today, my preceptor and I worked through my assignment list very thoroughly. This really helped us both to understand all the assignments better and bounce ideas off of one another. My preceptor was open to any ideas that I had, which helped me feel more comfortable about what I was doing.
One of the major topics for today was the school lunch program. With all of the new guidelines in place for the school year, my preceptor has to work to update the menus to fit all nutritional requirements. I had reviewed the school lunch program prior to starting; however, it was very helpful to go in depth with my preceptor. I was able to look at menu templates and the programs they used for their schools. I had a little bit of down time (expect that when you begin your FSM rotation), so I was able to get working on my school lunch menu planning assignment. Planning a school lunch menu with all of the new guidelines is a lot more complicated than I thought. It helps to have charts printed out of all the grade group requirements and food component regulations for quick reference.
I was surprised at how many phone calls the office received when I was there today. It seemed as though the phone never stopped ringing with parents asking questions about the school lunch program, new employees asking about trainings, and potential employees calling about positions and job offers. With the students starting next week, a lot of food ordering had to get placed today too. I expect that I will be a lot busier once next week rolls around.
Overall, today was quite a success. Over the next few days, I will be meeting the principals, managers, and employees from other schools in the districts at the meetings and trainings they have scheduled. I am very excited to continue my journey to RD status!
I now leave you with my "laughable moment of the day":
I packed a lunch and some snacks for today which consisted of: carrots, celery, dressing, chickpeas with ranch, 1/2 sandwich with natural peanut butter and nutella, turkey jerky (made in my dehydrator), an apple, raw cashews, and 2 rice cakes. Now, I don't know about you, but besides the sandwich and jerky, I picked some noisy food. Let's set the scene. While the phone does ring a lot, when it doesn't ring, the office is dead silent. So, lunch rolls around and I break out my sandwich and my veggies. Starting with my quiet food first, I have no problems. I then move onto my carrots and celery sticks, which are not very quiet foods. I begin laughing because all I can hear is the obsessive crunch when I bit into my food. Let's face it, there is no quiet way to eat celery and carrots. Anyway, I don't think anyone else notices, or cares that I am crunching and chomping. I, however, begin to crack up at myself, and proceed to choke on my food. This wasn't a heimlich maneuver type of choke; however, I had one of those slight panic moments where you suck in too much food with air and do a cough-cough-large swallow. I think tomorrow I will will be packing cucumbers and grapes :)
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Preparing for Your First Internship Rotation
In exactly 11 days, I will begin my first dietetic intern rotation in food service management (cue the bells and whistles). I am very excited/nervous to begin my next step in my RD journey. A lot of people in my internship program have already started their rotations. Hearing their positive experiences have really made me antsy to have my own and just get started.
With my internship, I also take a certain amount of graduate credits. At first, I thought this would be a ton of work; however, the assignments and lectures are spaced out and prepared very well. Also, with the online format, it is easy to jump on and work for an hour or two, then move on to something else.
Some ways I have been preparing for the rotation are: 1. Complete quizzes and lectures supplied by my internship (If your internship does not have these, there are plenty online). 2. Read through my foodservice organizations book. 3. Read through all the assignments I will be completing. 4. Create a semi-timeline of the rotation. 4. Give an overview of assignments to my preceptor (I am in a distance program). I also found it to be helpful to gather all of my rotation materials in one binder so that I can reference assignments or notes with ease. I also read through some of my notes from my food service management classes and quantity food production class that I had in college
Besides preparing myself for the work portion, I have been mentally preparing myself for the rest of the program. Not only do I not know my surroundings, but, I also don't know my preceptors very well, or what their schedules are really like. It is more of preparing myself for the unknown of that first day; accepting what will happen and just going with the flow. There is always that feeling that "maybe I don't know enough" however, the comments and feedback I have heard from the other interns have really made me excited and know that I can do it. Having the other interns to talk to and share stories with has been such a great addition to my internship. I know that if I need help with assignment I can always turn to the other interns. Also, seeing that some of them struggled with similar assignments has really made me think that I wasn't the only one to be in that situation.
Just some final words of advice to those of you who have either just begun your internship or are waiting to start:
-Don't feel like you are alone in the process! You will always have the other interns and your directors to turn to for help or guidance.
-Have confidence in yourself and know that you can do it! Trust the knowledge you have. Brush up on some information to boost your confidence.
-Be flexible and go with the flow. As much as you want your first day to go smoothly, know that it will probably be crazy or very different than what you are used to. Embrace the change and accept what is in front of you.
-Prepare your materials ahead of time so that it is one less thing to worry about.
-Get to know your preceptor and supply them with your assignments prior to starting. It will help the process run a bit more smoothly.
-Lastly, share your story with others! It always helps to share your positive experiences with others who are just starting.
With my internship, I also take a certain amount of graduate credits. At first, I thought this would be a ton of work; however, the assignments and lectures are spaced out and prepared very well. Also, with the online format, it is easy to jump on and work for an hour or two, then move on to something else.
Some ways I have been preparing for the rotation are: 1. Complete quizzes and lectures supplied by my internship (If your internship does not have these, there are plenty online). 2. Read through my foodservice organizations book. 3. Read through all the assignments I will be completing. 4. Create a semi-timeline of the rotation. 4. Give an overview of assignments to my preceptor (I am in a distance program). I also found it to be helpful to gather all of my rotation materials in one binder so that I can reference assignments or notes with ease. I also read through some of my notes from my food service management classes and quantity food production class that I had in college
Besides preparing myself for the work portion, I have been mentally preparing myself for the rest of the program. Not only do I not know my surroundings, but, I also don't know my preceptors very well, or what their schedules are really like. It is more of preparing myself for the unknown of that first day; accepting what will happen and just going with the flow. There is always that feeling that "maybe I don't know enough" however, the comments and feedback I have heard from the other interns have really made me excited and know that I can do it. Having the other interns to talk to and share stories with has been such a great addition to my internship. I know that if I need help with assignment I can always turn to the other interns. Also, seeing that some of them struggled with similar assignments has really made me think that I wasn't the only one to be in that situation.
Just some final words of advice to those of you who have either just begun your internship or are waiting to start:
-Don't feel like you are alone in the process! You will always have the other interns and your directors to turn to for help or guidance.
-Have confidence in yourself and know that you can do it! Trust the knowledge you have. Brush up on some information to boost your confidence.
-Be flexible and go with the flow. As much as you want your first day to go smoothly, know that it will probably be crazy or very different than what you are used to. Embrace the change and accept what is in front of you.
-Prepare your materials ahead of time so that it is one less thing to worry about.
-Get to know your preceptor and supply them with your assignments prior to starting. It will help the process run a bit more smoothly.
-Lastly, share your story with others! It always helps to share your positive experiences with others who are just starting.
Friday, August 2, 2013
My Dietetic Orientation Experience
Once you are accepted into a dietetic internship program, you will need to go through orientation. Some orientations are a few days, others are a week. It will all depend on the type and location of your dietetic internship.
Since my internship was a distance program, I flew out to Utah for 4 days. I wasn't expecting much out of the orientation. I figured that people had their friends and cliques and it would just be awkward. I couldn't have been more wrong about it.
Orientation was probably one of the best experiences I have had. It is such an amazing feeling to be in a room with 60 other interns who come from all over the US, but, have similar goals as you do. I really got to bond with my fellow interns and my internship directors. While some lecture was involved, the atmosphere was still open and relaxed. We had multiple team-bonding activities, which really had a positive impact on me (And I am sure other interns).
During lunch and other free times throughout the day, the interns would get to share where they came from, excitement about rotations, and goals for their future career. Although everyone was ultimately there to pursue their RD status, we all had very different paths that we wanted to take.
One highlighting moment of the week for me was when I went hiking up the mountains with a few other interns. As we started our hike, I felt pretty good. The trail we took was tough and very slanted. About 20 minutes into the hike, I was trailing at the end huffing and puffing. As I looked ahead at the other interns, none of them seemed at all phased by the stifling air or hot sun. (Utah is already a higher elevation than I am used in Pennsylvania). I, on the other hand, felt out of shape and close to passing out. I was surprised at myself. I mean, I go to the gym, walk, do resistance training, yet, I was panting like a dog. I kept thinking to myself that I should just give up, walk back, and wait for the driver to come. I didn't want to hold anyone back, and I felt embarrassed that I couldn't keep up.
As more of a lag formed between the other interns and I, one stopped. She offered me her water, which I of course forgot to bring. That perked me up for a few more minutes. As we continued uphill, I was ready to quit and I stopped. Then, something happened, which I felt was pretty amazing. They all stopped with me for a break! Everyone was so nice, offering me water and telling me that if I needed a break they would all stop. Although many people might think this is trivial, it really had an impact on me. Here was this group of women who don't even know me. They could have laughed at me or joked around at my laborious breathing; however, they did exactly the opposite. They were caring and understanding. Something they didn't realize, was that they motivated me to keep going. A few minutes after we continued walking from our break, we reached flatter ground and it was much easier to continue the hike.
We hiked for about an hour and a half up to 9,000 elevation. The view from the mountaintops was absolutely amazing. I felt amazing, like I conquered the mountains (yes, that's very cheesy). I was so glad that I kept going and was able to experience the beauty around me. This was just one moment that really made me feel close to the other interns.
I never would have expected to form such a strong bond with some many people, so quickly. We talked like we had known each other our whole lives. It felt great to be able to have such a strong support system behind me for when I started my rotations.
My orientation was such an amazing experience. The conversations, events, and nightlife were something I will always remember.
If you already had orientation, share what positive experiences you had!
Since my internship was a distance program, I flew out to Utah for 4 days. I wasn't expecting much out of the orientation. I figured that people had their friends and cliques and it would just be awkward. I couldn't have been more wrong about it.
Orientation was probably one of the best experiences I have had. It is such an amazing feeling to be in a room with 60 other interns who come from all over the US, but, have similar goals as you do. I really got to bond with my fellow interns and my internship directors. While some lecture was involved, the atmosphere was still open and relaxed. We had multiple team-bonding activities, which really had a positive impact on me (And I am sure other interns).
During lunch and other free times throughout the day, the interns would get to share where they came from, excitement about rotations, and goals for their future career. Although everyone was ultimately there to pursue their RD status, we all had very different paths that we wanted to take.
One highlighting moment of the week for me was when I went hiking up the mountains with a few other interns. As we started our hike, I felt pretty good. The trail we took was tough and very slanted. About 20 minutes into the hike, I was trailing at the end huffing and puffing. As I looked ahead at the other interns, none of them seemed at all phased by the stifling air or hot sun. (Utah is already a higher elevation than I am used in Pennsylvania). I, on the other hand, felt out of shape and close to passing out. I was surprised at myself. I mean, I go to the gym, walk, do resistance training, yet, I was panting like a dog. I kept thinking to myself that I should just give up, walk back, and wait for the driver to come. I didn't want to hold anyone back, and I felt embarrassed that I couldn't keep up.
As more of a lag formed between the other interns and I, one stopped. She offered me her water, which I of course forgot to bring. That perked me up for a few more minutes. As we continued uphill, I was ready to quit and I stopped. Then, something happened, which I felt was pretty amazing. They all stopped with me for a break! Everyone was so nice, offering me water and telling me that if I needed a break they would all stop. Although many people might think this is trivial, it really had an impact on me. Here was this group of women who don't even know me. They could have laughed at me or joked around at my laborious breathing; however, they did exactly the opposite. They were caring and understanding. Something they didn't realize, was that they motivated me to keep going. A few minutes after we continued walking from our break, we reached flatter ground and it was much easier to continue the hike.
We hiked for about an hour and a half up to 9,000 elevation. The view from the mountaintops was absolutely amazing. I felt amazing, like I conquered the mountains (yes, that's very cheesy). I was so glad that I kept going and was able to experience the beauty around me. This was just one moment that really made me feel close to the other interns.
I never would have expected to form such a strong bond with some many people, so quickly. We talked like we had known each other our whole lives. It felt great to be able to have such a strong support system behind me for when I started my rotations.
My orientation was such an amazing experience. The conversations, events, and nightlife were something I will always remember.
If you already had orientation, share what positive experiences you had!
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Tips for Running Nutrition Programs
Over the past few years, I have been creating and running nutrition programs. I have done multiple seminars for adults and classes for children. It is often intimidating to stand up in front of everyone and give that expert knowledge of yours. For those of you who run nutrition programs, or are looking to, here are some of the tips I have.
Tip #1: Prepare
This tip is very generally. It means to not only prepare your material ahead of time (definitely don't wing it), but to also mentally prepare yourself. If you have your content created, reviewed, and ready for presentation, you will be a lot calmer than if you rushed through it last minute and haven't looked it over.
Tip #2: Dress professionally
First impressions are very important! Your participants will be judging you before you even begin to speak. You want to look the part. I also found that with being younger, people often discredit what I say or don't take me seriously. Dressing professionally has helped me to be seen as more of an authority figure.
Tip #3: Arrive early
If you have a lot of equipment, I suggest arriving at least 30 minutes before start time. I found it useful to set up all my handouts, extra pens, business cards, etc on a table off to the side of the front of the room. This was a lot better than fumbling around if someone needed another pen or extra paper. Having materials set out makes the class run smoothly. Also, some participants arrive early. This gives you time to chat with them and make them and yourself a bit more comfortable.
Tip #4: Prepare for set-backs
This tip goes hand-in-hand with tip #3. Besides setting up your room and materials, you want to be early in case of problems that arise. Let's face it, as much as we prepare, something can always go wrong last minute. I recently began working with a projector, which was complicated to find, let alone set-up. I was in one room with all my materials set-up, half the projector, tables and chairs. I had to move all of my materials, tables, and chairs, to another room to use a different computer system. Since I arrived early, and with the help of some awesome employees, I was able to get set-up and start pretty much on time. Preparing for set-backs means you also have to go with the flow when problems arise. Instead of focusing on "why me," focus on "what can I do to fix this."
Tip #5: Have confidence in yourself
Believe in yourself and what you are doing! Stand talk, speak clearly, and speak loudly (not yelling though). Think positively about your program or presentation. Trust your knowledge and your abilities. Greet your participants as they walk in, and if you can, shake their hands. This gesture helps to break that awkward barrier before you start.
Tip #6: It's okay to not know an answer
One of the things I was worried about most was that I would get hard questions, not know the answers, and I would lose all of my credibility. When you run a nutrition class, yes you will get questions; however, if you know what you are teaching you will be fine. You know more than you think you do. Also, you don't have to know everything. If you don't know the answer to a question, give your best response and be honest about not knowing. I have had a lot of questions on new products or studies, some of which I have never heard of. Sometimes, with my science background, I am able to give an educated response. Other times, I have to say "I haven't read much on the topic of _____, that will be something I will look into more." If you are seeing the same class again, you could also tell your participant that you could research it and get back to them.
Tip #6: Enjoy what you are presenting
If you teach nutrition, more than likely you are in the field because it is a passion of yours. Bring that passion to your class. If you are excited and passionate about what you are teaching, it will show. This will also help to motivate the people in your class to be more excited about it too.
****These tips can also relate to speeches/presentations in class.
Tip #1: Prepare
This tip is very generally. It means to not only prepare your material ahead of time (definitely don't wing it), but to also mentally prepare yourself. If you have your content created, reviewed, and ready for presentation, you will be a lot calmer than if you rushed through it last minute and haven't looked it over.
Tip #2: Dress professionally
First impressions are very important! Your participants will be judging you before you even begin to speak. You want to look the part. I also found that with being younger, people often discredit what I say or don't take me seriously. Dressing professionally has helped me to be seen as more of an authority figure.
Tip #3: Arrive early
If you have a lot of equipment, I suggest arriving at least 30 minutes before start time. I found it useful to set up all my handouts, extra pens, business cards, etc on a table off to the side of the front of the room. This was a lot better than fumbling around if someone needed another pen or extra paper. Having materials set out makes the class run smoothly. Also, some participants arrive early. This gives you time to chat with them and make them and yourself a bit more comfortable.
Tip #4: Prepare for set-backs
This tip goes hand-in-hand with tip #3. Besides setting up your room and materials, you want to be early in case of problems that arise. Let's face it, as much as we prepare, something can always go wrong last minute. I recently began working with a projector, which was complicated to find, let alone set-up. I was in one room with all my materials set-up, half the projector, tables and chairs. I had to move all of my materials, tables, and chairs, to another room to use a different computer system. Since I arrived early, and with the help of some awesome employees, I was able to get set-up and start pretty much on time. Preparing for set-backs means you also have to go with the flow when problems arise. Instead of focusing on "why me," focus on "what can I do to fix this."
Tip #5: Have confidence in yourself
Believe in yourself and what you are doing! Stand talk, speak clearly, and speak loudly (not yelling though). Think positively about your program or presentation. Trust your knowledge and your abilities. Greet your participants as they walk in, and if you can, shake their hands. This gesture helps to break that awkward barrier before you start.
Tip #6: It's okay to not know an answer
One of the things I was worried about most was that I would get hard questions, not know the answers, and I would lose all of my credibility. When you run a nutrition class, yes you will get questions; however, if you know what you are teaching you will be fine. You know more than you think you do. Also, you don't have to know everything. If you don't know the answer to a question, give your best response and be honest about not knowing. I have had a lot of questions on new products or studies, some of which I have never heard of. Sometimes, with my science background, I am able to give an educated response. Other times, I have to say "I haven't read much on the topic of _____, that will be something I will look into more." If you are seeing the same class again, you could also tell your participant that you could research it and get back to them.
Tip #6: Enjoy what you are presenting
If you teach nutrition, more than likely you are in the field because it is a passion of yours. Bring that passion to your class. If you are excited and passionate about what you are teaching, it will show. This will also help to motivate the people in your class to be more excited about it too.
****These tips can also relate to speeches/presentations in class.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Tips for Finding Dietetic Preceptors
If you decide to go with a distance dietetic internship, you will need to find your own preceptors prior to the application process. Finding preceptors is a very difficult and lengthy process. I would definitely suggest starting early! Not only are there a lot of paperwork and meetings involved; however, you are competing with other possible interns for those positions. Some facilities will only take 1-2 interns per year.
Before you begin to search for facilities and preceptors, review your possible internships. Find out what facilities they will allow you to use. The most important factor is your clinical rotation. Most, if not all, internships will want you to have a inpatient clinical facility set before you even apply. They want this because the inpatient clinical rotation usually the hardest rotation to set. For your food service management rotation, internships will want you at a school location, hospital kitchen, or both. Again, this is important to review before you start your search for preceptors.
It is always best to contact preceptors via phone call first. I found that with email, I was either getting overlooked or spammed. I often didn't know who the head person was to email anyway. Also, emails tend to get pushed by the wayside, as compared to phone calls. Prepare a little blurb of what you want to say on the phone prior to calling. I tend to have a mind blank, so it was helpful to have an outline of my name, why I was calling, how long the rotation was, and a callback number. You will be surprised at what you forget after calling a multiple facilities. I first started off with a list of about 60 hospitals. If you were wondering, I called them all...twice...at least. Calling hospitals for an inpatient clinical rotation was quite difficult. I found many facilities: 1. Had contracts with other schools for interns, 2. Had contracts with companies like Aramark and Sodexo and didn't take other interns, 3. Didn't have enough dietitians on staff for more than 1 intern, and I was too late for that spot, 4. Never called me back from the 3 voicemails I left. That being said, I did find my needed facilities, it just took a lot of patience.
After you get through to a preceptor, they will want to meet you. It is best to be clear, prior to any meeting, what your needs are for the internship. You don't want to drive all the way out to meet a preceptor and find out that they can't have you come for the full rotation time. Also, I found that my potential preceptors liked that I sent the internship forms to them prior to the meeting. This gave them a chance to either fill it out beforehand or review it to ask me questions when I was there. Most of this meeting will consist of paperwork, basic interview questions, and a tour of the facility. Dress to impress! Usually, if a preceptor wants to meet you face-to-face, they already are set on having you use their facility as part of your rotation. They need this time to make sure they understand everything that is needed, the time you will be there, forms you and they will have to fill out, etc. They also want to make sure you are not crazy :)
Don't give up on finding preceptors! If you really get stuck, head to the yellow pages! Also, some internships will give you suggestions on facilities prior interns had used. (This is usually a last resort). Lastly, be persistent but not pushy. You may need to call a facility more than once. Just be sure to give them a week to get back to you before you call again. Preceptors are already very busy, so be respectful of their time.
As always, good luck!
Before you begin to search for facilities and preceptors, review your possible internships. Find out what facilities they will allow you to use. The most important factor is your clinical rotation. Most, if not all, internships will want you to have a inpatient clinical facility set before you even apply. They want this because the inpatient clinical rotation usually the hardest rotation to set. For your food service management rotation, internships will want you at a school location, hospital kitchen, or both. Again, this is important to review before you start your search for preceptors.
It is always best to contact preceptors via phone call first. I found that with email, I was either getting overlooked or spammed. I often didn't know who the head person was to email anyway. Also, emails tend to get pushed by the wayside, as compared to phone calls. Prepare a little blurb of what you want to say on the phone prior to calling. I tend to have a mind blank, so it was helpful to have an outline of my name, why I was calling, how long the rotation was, and a callback number. You will be surprised at what you forget after calling a multiple facilities. I first started off with a list of about 60 hospitals. If you were wondering, I called them all...twice...at least. Calling hospitals for an inpatient clinical rotation was quite difficult. I found many facilities: 1. Had contracts with other schools for interns, 2. Had contracts with companies like Aramark and Sodexo and didn't take other interns, 3. Didn't have enough dietitians on staff for more than 1 intern, and I was too late for that spot, 4. Never called me back from the 3 voicemails I left. That being said, I did find my needed facilities, it just took a lot of patience.
After you get through to a preceptor, they will want to meet you. It is best to be clear, prior to any meeting, what your needs are for the internship. You don't want to drive all the way out to meet a preceptor and find out that they can't have you come for the full rotation time. Also, I found that my potential preceptors liked that I sent the internship forms to them prior to the meeting. This gave them a chance to either fill it out beforehand or review it to ask me questions when I was there. Most of this meeting will consist of paperwork, basic interview questions, and a tour of the facility. Dress to impress! Usually, if a preceptor wants to meet you face-to-face, they already are set on having you use their facility as part of your rotation. They need this time to make sure they understand everything that is needed, the time you will be there, forms you and they will have to fill out, etc. They also want to make sure you are not crazy :)
Don't give up on finding preceptors! If you really get stuck, head to the yellow pages! Also, some internships will give you suggestions on facilities prior interns had used. (This is usually a last resort). Lastly, be persistent but not pushy. You may need to call a facility more than once. Just be sure to give them a week to get back to you before you call again. Preceptors are already very busy, so be respectful of their time.
As always, good luck!
Friday, July 12, 2013
Tips for Applying to Dietetic Internships
If you are interested in going the internship/RD route right after college, here are a few tips to help you guide you through that horrible process.
Personal Statement
Your personal statement is one of the most important things that internships look at. This is the piece of yourself that they get to see before interviewing you. Internships have changed a bit. Instead of just hearing your life story and how you got into dietetics, they also want to see leadership skills and professional experiences. The internships you apply to will have a section on their website that lists the questions you will need to include in your personal statement. My advice is to start with a short blurb (no more than a paragraph) about yourself, how you got into dietetics, etc. Then, continue by answering the questions asked and really highlighting your accomplishments in dietetics. Start early on your statement. It might take a while to figure out what you want to write about. Also, get as many people as you can to proofread it!
DICAS
This is the system you will use to upload all documents for each internship you are applying to. This includes: resume, personal statement, transcripts, references, additional application materials, etc. DICAS has a lot of help on their website (I definitely got good use out of that). There is a certain date when DICAS will open for each internship round, so keep track of that date.
D&D Digital Matching
This is the best part of the internship! Not! D&D is a system where you rank all of your internship choices IN THE ORDER THAT YOU WANT THEM. That last part is very important. There was a lot of confusion when I was applying over whether or not you ranked the internships in terms of which one you thought you had the best chance of getting. That is not the case. If you want to be double sure, you can always call D&D. They are very nice and used to dealing with crazy dietetic students.
Basically how it works is you rank your internships from 1-5 (or however many you have). Let's say your first choice is Aramark. You think it is kind of a stretch, but you apply anyway. You're second choice is maybe an internship you know you could get (Marywood University). When matching day comes, if you got Aramark, you will be notified that you did. If you didn't get Aramark, but your second choice (Marywood) listed you as an intern, you will get that one. If you had also gotten your 3rd, 4th, and 5th internship, you will not know. It stops at the internship, based on how you ranked them.
How Many to Apply To
Dietetic internships are very competitive and down right stressful to apply for. I always tell people it was worse than if you applied to grad school. So, that being said, you really don`t want to go through this process more than once.
I applied to 7 internships. 2 were places that I wanted, but were a stretch for me. 3 were ones I was pretty sure I had, but couldn`t be positive. 2 were places I knew I would get but didn't really want (safety schools). On-site programs in your area are often hard to get into (require high GPA and a lot of experience) and tons of people, all very qualified, apply. Distance programs often require a lower GPA but still experience. Coordinated programs often have the lowest GPA requirement and experience. Know yourself and your abilities before picking your internships.
There are many factors to consider when looking at internships. There were a few programs that I thought were equal in how they were structured. I then ranked those schools based on how much their tuition was. It is quite costly to apply to internships. D&D, DICAS, and your internship programs all have separate fees. Total, I would factor in about $300. Between 4 and 7 programs is a good range.
Final Tips
Spend time looking at internship programs and their admission requirements early. Some programs offer more community experience, so if you are interested in community work, check them out. Some programs have longer in-patient experiences. Get a binder of your internship materials started early. Start working on your references and your personal statement. If you get prepared early, you will be less stressed out when the application time comes.
Good luck!
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Tips for Incoming Nutrition/Dietetic Undergrad Students
There were many moments in my dietetics undergrad career that were prefaced with"I wished someone had told me that." From classes to work experience to joining clubs, I found a lot of information given to me was both helpful and downright useless. Hopefully, my experience as a dietetics undergrad student will help you as you begin (or continue) yours!
Class Scheduling
As an dietetics undergrad student, you will be taking classes like Anatomy/Physiology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, and core nutrition classes. Although you have certain pre-requisites for classes, I would not suggest taking ORGANIC CHEMISTRY WITH ANATOMY or taking BIOCHEMISTRY WITH ANATOMY 2. Those were the worst 2 semesters of my college career. Anatomy 1 is mostly memorizing information and Anatomy 2 is applying everything you memorized. Throw those classes in with any type of chemistry and you will surely fry your brain. There were many dietetics students that had no problem with taking these classes in 1 semester. I, however, struggled with a horrible teacher and a lack of understanding of chemistry to begin with. I found myself ordering "Organic Chemistry Demystified" off of Amazon and attempting to teach myself.
If you find yourself in this situation, YouTube has online lectures that are helpful and the simplified books off Amazon help to breakdown the scientific blubber. Another option is to take Anatomy at a community college and transfer the credits to your university. I hear it is much easier. You could also take Anatomy or Chemistry over the summer to lessen your course load. These classes are very important for internship opportunities later on. Internships will ask you for your DPD GPA (GPA from all nutrition classes) and science GPA. A tip for taking Anatomy 1: you will be doing practicals in lab where you get bones or muscles and have to name them. What I found to be useful was to take pictures of the bones/muscles in lab and study from the picture instead of the book. In my lab, the models in class were used on the practicals. It made studying much easier. (This I figured out my last practical unfortunately). Lastly, don't feel bad about having to retake any of the science classes! I retook Anatomy and got a full grade higher the second time around. I also understood the material much better. Many people don't fail (like I did) and retake the class just to have a better grade on their transcripts.
Dietetics Experience
If you don't have a job in the dietetics field already, get one! Get yourself in at a hospital or long-term care facility as a diet or food/nutrition aide. The pay is pretty good and you really need the experience in the long run. Other options are to shadow a Dietitian, work/volunteer at WIC, or volunteer at a dialysis clinic. Not only good for experience, but also good for networking. Getting experience is vital for when you apply for internships or grad school.
My internship needed a minimum of 1040 hours of dietetics related volunteer or paid experience. This may sound like a lot, but if you were to work 20 hours a week for a year, you would meet the requirement. I worked for 4.5 years as a food and nutrition aide at a hospital. I worked for 8 years at the YMCA; however, only 2 of those years were dietetics related. (I taught nutrition programs). Getting experience also helps you to figure out what you want to do with your career. I discovered I hated working in a hospital. People didn't want my help. They just wanted to eat bacon and go home. I found that I loved working with kids and families where I could create my own program and pilot it to the members. By volunteering/working in different fields of nutrition, you will discover what your niche will be.
College Involvement
Get involved at school! One club to get involved with is Student Dietetic Association (or whatever your college calls the nutrition club). Some SDA clubs just let you join without any stipulations. My university was much more strict. We needed 20 hours to get inducted, then we had to keep up with 10 hours to stay a member. Adding up hours was very complicated. If you did an all day event (which were only on the weekends) you would only get 3 hours max. But selling 20 cookies was worth a half hour. Let's just say I was inducted, then on probation for my last year :)
I worked 2 jobs in college (both on the weekends). I lived at school but commuted back and forth for work. It was hard for me to keep up with the hours needed for the SDA club. Your university may be different and a lot more relaxed. SDA does offer a lot of information regarding the dietetics profession and tips for internships, so it is a good resource.
If you are involved with more than one club, I would suggest getting involved enough to gain a leadership position. I was Public Relations Officer for Habitat for Humanity my sophomore year and President my junior and senior year. Not only did this look good for my resume, but it also taught me a lot about how an organization should be run, time-management, patience, conflict resolution, and much more. I also got much better at public speaking. All of these qualities can be used in other aspects of your life. They are also important qualities for internship candidates.
Class Scheduling
As an dietetics undergrad student, you will be taking classes like Anatomy/Physiology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, and core nutrition classes. Although you have certain pre-requisites for classes, I would not suggest taking ORGANIC CHEMISTRY WITH ANATOMY or taking BIOCHEMISTRY WITH ANATOMY 2. Those were the worst 2 semesters of my college career. Anatomy 1 is mostly memorizing information and Anatomy 2 is applying everything you memorized. Throw those classes in with any type of chemistry and you will surely fry your brain. There were many dietetics students that had no problem with taking these classes in 1 semester. I, however, struggled with a horrible teacher and a lack of understanding of chemistry to begin with. I found myself ordering "Organic Chemistry Demystified" off of Amazon and attempting to teach myself.
If you find yourself in this situation, YouTube has online lectures that are helpful and the simplified books off Amazon help to breakdown the scientific blubber. Another option is to take Anatomy at a community college and transfer the credits to your university. I hear it is much easier. You could also take Anatomy or Chemistry over the summer to lessen your course load. These classes are very important for internship opportunities later on. Internships will ask you for your DPD GPA (GPA from all nutrition classes) and science GPA. A tip for taking Anatomy 1: you will be doing practicals in lab where you get bones or muscles and have to name them. What I found to be useful was to take pictures of the bones/muscles in lab and study from the picture instead of the book. In my lab, the models in class were used on the practicals. It made studying much easier. (This I figured out my last practical unfortunately). Lastly, don't feel bad about having to retake any of the science classes! I retook Anatomy and got a full grade higher the second time around. I also understood the material much better. Many people don't fail (like I did) and retake the class just to have a better grade on their transcripts.
Dietetics Experience
If you don't have a job in the dietetics field already, get one! Get yourself in at a hospital or long-term care facility as a diet or food/nutrition aide. The pay is pretty good and you really need the experience in the long run. Other options are to shadow a Dietitian, work/volunteer at WIC, or volunteer at a dialysis clinic. Not only good for experience, but also good for networking. Getting experience is vital for when you apply for internships or grad school.
My internship needed a minimum of 1040 hours of dietetics related volunteer or paid experience. This may sound like a lot, but if you were to work 20 hours a week for a year, you would meet the requirement. I worked for 4.5 years as a food and nutrition aide at a hospital. I worked for 8 years at the YMCA; however, only 2 of those years were dietetics related. (I taught nutrition programs). Getting experience also helps you to figure out what you want to do with your career. I discovered I hated working in a hospital. People didn't want my help. They just wanted to eat bacon and go home. I found that I loved working with kids and families where I could create my own program and pilot it to the members. By volunteering/working in different fields of nutrition, you will discover what your niche will be.
College Involvement
Get involved at school! One club to get involved with is Student Dietetic Association (or whatever your college calls the nutrition club). Some SDA clubs just let you join without any stipulations. My university was much more strict. We needed 20 hours to get inducted, then we had to keep up with 10 hours to stay a member. Adding up hours was very complicated. If you did an all day event (which were only on the weekends) you would only get 3 hours max. But selling 20 cookies was worth a half hour. Let's just say I was inducted, then on probation for my last year :)
I worked 2 jobs in college (both on the weekends). I lived at school but commuted back and forth for work. It was hard for me to keep up with the hours needed for the SDA club. Your university may be different and a lot more relaxed. SDA does offer a lot of information regarding the dietetics profession and tips for internships, so it is a good resource.
If you are involved with more than one club, I would suggest getting involved enough to gain a leadership position. I was Public Relations Officer for Habitat for Humanity my sophomore year and President my junior and senior year. Not only did this look good for my resume, but it also taught me a lot about how an organization should be run, time-management, patience, conflict resolution, and much more. I also got much better at public speaking. All of these qualities can be used in other aspects of your life. They are also important qualities for internship candidates.
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