 During my clinical rotation with the Sodexo Dietetic Internship, I had the opportunity to dive deeper into the connection between lifestyle and chronic disease. One experience that stood out to me was working with a patient newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and heart disease. As someone passionate about functional nutrition and integrative health, I was excited to merge evidence-based guidelines with personalized, sustainable changes for this patient.
With my preceptor’s support, I was able to conduct a nutrition education session that focused not just on blood sugar management but also on stress, sleep, and movement. I guided the patient through how fiber-rich carbohydrates, healthy fats, and consistent meals could support their blood sugar, but I also asked about their daily routine—what they do in the morning, how they feel in the evenings, and what barriers they’ve had in the past with food. That simple conversation turned into a meaningful moment of trust and empowerment. By the end of the session, the patient told me they finally felt like someone “got it.” They weren’t just handed a handout—they were heard. And for me, that’s the heart of this profession. This experience reminded me why I entered the field of dietetics in the first place. It’s not just about the science of nutrition; it’s about meeting people where they are and empowering them to take one step forward. As someone who has personally used nutrition to manage my own health challenges, being on the other side of the counseling table felt full circle. The Sodexo Dietetic Internship has helped me grow in ways I never expected. The support I’ve received, along with the hands-on experiences across clinical and community settings, has given me a strong foundation to be the kind of dietitian who not only understands the science—but also leads with compassion.  During my clinical rotation I had a special interaction that quickly became a memorable experience in my internship. It was one of the first times I saw a patient on my own. After learning all the information and skills from nutrition classes and seminars I have attended, I felt fully prepared and confident entering this patient's room.
Before visiting a patient for an initial assessment I will always look over their charts to see their diagnosis, diet order, past medical history, any important notes relating to their health condition and their reason for admission. While looking over her chart I noted that she was currently NPO (nothing by mouth) and did not have a diet order in place. This brought immediate concerns, such as how long has she been NPO, what is the reason for her not eating, and did she receive a dysphagia screen or swallow evaluation. I did a little more reading into her chart and found that she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in the past year and she was admitted into the hospital for an aspiration episode. The patient has reported recent difficulties with swallowing at home. She had failed her dysphagia screen and received a swallow evaluation by the speech language pathologist. In the swallow evaluation note, they recommended keeping her NPO with the exception of puree liquids for pleasure, they also recommended alternate means of nutrition for her. The doctor agreed with this and they were planning on starting her on Jevity 1.5 that day through a nasogastric tube. Since she failed her dysphagia screen, I was going to visit her that day. In the meantime we got a consultation to provide this patient with a feeding tube goal rate. With all my practice doing enteral tube feeding calculations through Sodexo, I felt fully confident while making her recommendations to meet her needs. When I visited her, she was clearly anxious and scared. I introduced myself and told her my reason for the visit. I used my motivational interviewing skills to ask her a few questions. After receiving some information from her, I mentioned that the nurses were going to place a nasogastric tube. This brought her a lot of worries and questions. We discussed that alternate means of nutrition doesn't always mean it's permanent, and that we will order another swallow evaluation to further investigate. In the meantime, I assured her how important it was to receive nutrition for her body to get stronger. I also talked to her about her options with puree liquids so that she can have some pleasure. She kept expressing her gratitude for me listening, calming her worries, and providing her with information about the NG tube and how it works. She was very grateful for me providing her with medical nutrition therapy. It was one of the first times during my internship that I felt like I made a positive impact on a patient's life and their hospital stay.  During my time as an intern with Sodexo, I had the privilege of completing a clinical rotation that truly expanded my understanding of nutrition’s role in patient care. This experience was so valuable in shaping both my knowledge and my passion for dietetics. I had the chance to observe dietitians in a hospital setting and learn from their hands-on approach to supporting patients through personalized nutrition plans.
One of the most impactful aspects of my clinical rotation was seeing a full assessment done on a patient and seeing how dietitians collaborate with physicians and other healthcare professionals. It was fascinating to witness how they used nutrition to enhance patient outcomes, particularly for those recovering from surgery or managing chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease. I remember one case in particular: A patient recovering from surgery was struggling to regain strength, and the dietitian carefully created nutrition recommendations that included high-protein needs and suggested essential vitamins to support recovery. The dietitian’s approach was about understanding the patient’s needs and how nutrition could play a key role in their healing. This experience really emphasized how dietitians are important members of the healthcare team. In addition to observing patient assessments, I had the opportunity to help develop nutrition education materials for patients. One of my tasks was to create easily understandable handouts that provided practical advice on managing a renal diet at home for dialysis patients. It was incredible to see how something as simple as a well-designed handout could have such a significant impact on a person's understanding of their conditions and their ability to manage their diet effectively. Throughout my clinical rotation, I was impressed by the dietitians' ability to combine scientific knowledge with empathy and communication. I realized that being a successful dietitian isn’t just about knowing nutritional science; it’s about tailoring that knowledge to each patient’s unique circumstances. It’s about building trust, educating, and making nutrition accessible, even when dealing with complex medical conditions. This approach to patient care was a key takeaway that I’ll carry with me throughout my career. The clinical rotation also gave me a deeper appreciation for the broader scope of dietetics. It’s not just about providing advice on food choices; it’s about understanding the individual needs of patients, the challenges they face, and how dietitians can make a tangible difference in their health. This experience has solidified my desire to pursue a career where I can have a direct impact on patients’ lives, improving their health and well-being through nutrition. Looking back, this rotation was one of the most rewarding parts of my internship. It provided me with valuable skills and insight into how dietitians contribute to the healthcare team.  Hi everyone! My name is Tristen Hernandez. I am a region 12 intern from Los Angeles, California, and also part of the graduate program with the University of Rhode Island. I started my internship in the fall of 2024, and so far, I have completed my food service, clinical, and long-term care rotation.
Doing the graduate program and internship has been challenging but manageable if you keep organized with good time management skills. The assignments in the graduate program and internship have been really helpful in preparing me for the internship and making me feel confident in my interactions with patients and dietitians. My favorite rotation so far has been my clinical rotation. This is the longest rotation, with 16 weeks focusing on applying MNT in an acute care setting for a variety of medical conditions. I learned a lot from the dietitians at my site and am very appreciative of the guidance and knowledge that they shared. One experience I enjoyed during my clinical rotation was shadowing a wound care nurse. I was a little nervous at first to look at wounds from up close. However, this experience helped me gain a better understanding of what different stages of pressure injuries look like, and the role of nurses and nursing assistants in treating these wounds. The wound care nurse was also eager to learn about the role of dietitians in helping to heal these wounds. This is just one of the many experiences I got to observe during my clinical rotation. I highly recommend shadowing another specialty (nurses, speech therapists) or observing a clinical procedure (PEG/NGT placement) to gain a better understanding of the multidisciplinary team involved in patient care. Overall, I have been enjoying my internship. I am very grateful to the Sodexo team and community, as well as all my preceptors, for their support and guidance throughout this process. I have learned so much in just a few months, and I am excited to continue my internship journey!  Hi there! My name is Claudia, and I am currently in my Sodexo Dietetic Internship. So far, I have completed all my clinical rotations as well as my specialty rotation at my clinical site. My experience in this dietetic internship has been a ride to say the least. I remember when I was a baby intern, at the Sodexo Dietetic Internship orientation last fall in Maryland. I was nervous and suffering from a bit of imposter syndrome at the time. Do I deserve to be here? Am I smart or good enough? These were all questions I asked myself as I began my journey.
It wasn’t until a few weeks into my internship that I felt the worries dissipate. The Sodexo internship gave me an organized list of expectations and competencies I had to meet during my rotations. It was easy to work with my preceptors to address these areas and I felt prepared by the pre rotation assignments. Additionally, as a student of the combined master’s program, I felt that the subject matter I was learning in my internship was translated into my master’s coursework. I felt confident and prepared, and no subject matter looked foreign to me. The weeks flew by and each of my clinical rotations exposed me to new areas. I learned how to conduct nutrition assessments, provide nutrition diagnoses, as well as develop interventions. Fast forward to January 2025, I was just starting my critical care specialty rotation. Again, I was feeling nervous and not confident in myself as I took on a challenging area for development. The fear didn’t last long, and after a week, I felt back on my A game. The critical care rotation taught me a wealth of information and I appreciated the difference we as dietitians could make on a critical level to promote healing and recovery. Nutrition may not always be the most pertinent concern in the ICU; however I learned to communicate with the team effectively to ensure patients were receiving tube feeds as well as the correct rates and formulas. Since I was in the ICU for an extended period (5 weeks) I saw a lot of the same patients. I felt that my interventions made a difference as I watched these patients recover, become extubated, and return to a by mouth diet. Watching the difference I could make was rewarding. I would revisit some of these patients post extubation and collect subjective histories. I felt that at this time I got to know the patient even though I had seen them for several re assessments while they were intubated and sedated. This Sodexo internship allowed me to learn what it takes to be a clinical dietitian, especially one interested in working in the ICU. As I move into my next rotations, I welcome the variety of the dietitian profession. This internship has given me a hands-on experience with seeing the endless possibilities. It feels as if there is a specialty for everyone and in the internship, my exposure to multiple areas gives me flexibility as well as more opportunity while transitioning through my professional career.  The Sodexo Dietetic Internship
Calling all future RDNs! My name is Lauren Matheu and I am a Sodexo dietetic intern! The Sodexo Dietetic Internship has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career so far. Not only has it deepened my understanding of nutrition, but it’s also allowed me to explore the diverse opportunities within the field of dietetics. One of the highlights of this internship has been the foodservice rotation, where I had the chance to work on a dynamic retail marketing project. This project didn’t just teach me about foodservice operations; it gave me the chance to combine my skills in nutrition with creativity and data-driven strategies. A Unique Challenge During my foodservice rotation, I worked on a project aimed at increasing customer engagement and boosting purchases through a café app. The app is a key tool for customers to view menus, place orders, and interact with their dining experience. However, despite its functionality, customer engagement and purchase rate were lower than expected. The task was clear: find a way to make the app more engaging and increase the number of customers using it to make purchases. This was a challenge I was excited to take on, as it provided an opportunity to blend marketing, technology, and customer behavior into a strategic plan. The Strategy: Personalization and User Experience To tackle this challenge, I worked closely with the retail team to analyze user data and identify key areas for improvement. We realized not many people knew the café had an app to order ahead. We implemented a targeted promotion/raffle enticing individuals to download and make a purchase through the app. I created flyers with a QR code that directed the user to the app in the App Store. If they were able to download and make a purchase, they earned a ticket and were entered into the raffle. The grand prize was a free Starbucks coffee of their choice! The Results: A Success The impact of these changes was phenomenal. Over the course of 2 weeks, we saw a 150% increase in customer engagement! More users began to regularly interact with the app, taking advantage of personalized offers and enjoying a more streamlined user experience. The app became a huge part of the dining routine, and they were more likely to return. Even more impressive was the 120% increase in product purchases. With a more engaged customer base and an easier purchasing process, customers began making more frequent and larger orders. The results not only exceed expectations but also demonstrated the power of combining user-centered design with effective marketing. Reflecting on the Experience Looking back, this project was one of the most valuable learning experiences of my internship. It reinforced the idea that dietitians can have impact beyond just clinical nutrition. By understanding customer behavior and leveraging technology, we can influence food choices in meaningful ways. The Sodexo Dietetic Internship gave me the platform to explore nutrition and marketing, and I am excited to carry these skills forward in my career. This internship has been a great experience so far, and I am grateful for the chance to grow professionally and personally. If you are considering a dietetic internship, I highly recommend the Sodexo program. It is a unique opportunity to work in a diverse range of settings, push your boundaries, and make a real impact!  Hello fellow interns. My name is Beverly Ellis (previously Beverly Corry) from region 11 in Denver, Colorado. I received my masters in dietetics December 2023 from MSU Denver and started the Sodexo internship in February 2024. Before starting the internship, I worked as a restaurant manager overseeing 40+ people in a shift with 50-hour work weeks. As my internship nears the end, there are many adventures and experiences I feel sharing could help someone else.
This internship will put you to work. And in all the ways we need to truly understand what the field of dietetics really is all about. Sodexo does a phenomenal job at bringing to light several areas we could work in. My internship started with the Food Service Rotation – my wheelhouse! Even with all my years in the restaurant world, I quickly learned how different (and similar) managing a kitchen in a hospital could be. The management team was exceptional and tailored the experience to meet my skill sets. Next was clinicals. Everything about clinicals was new to me from the computer software to participating in rounds to charting on patients. Every day felt like I ran a marathon but, in the end, I could only be thankful for how much I learned each time I walked in! After clinicals came the LTC and specialty rotation, Senior Living. The times I spent in the assisted, independent and long-term care facilities were truly my favorite days. My previous thoughts of this population would be that they are sad and lonely and the site would be depressing. However, I was very wrong. Many of the residents were lovely to talk with (many, not all!) and curious about my work. Several were happy to have a chat about what they ate… except if it was bingo time. You’d have to find another time to discuss things with them. My biggest take aways and advice for those still working through the hours is as follows:
All in all, the experience is unmatchable. There were times I thought my head might explode or times I thought I wasn’t built for this but now that it’s near the end I can confidently say it has all been worth it!  Hi, everyone! My name is Andrea Walter. I am a region 1 intern with Sodexo and am a part of the GP program through URI. I currently live in York, ME and have been traveling to Massachusetts to complete my clinical rotation, which started this past September. I have completed patient services, basic clinical, and intermediate clinical. I was very nervous to start my clinical rotation as I had never worked in a hospital setting before. On my first day, the CNM came to greet me and introduced me to the nutrition staff as well as those who worked in the kitchen. Personally, I think it helped to be introduced to everyone right away so that I would be more apt for ask for help whenever I would need it. I remember at orientation one of our advisors stressed the importance of getting to know those working in the kitchen, I have been making a very strong effort to say hi each day, and to address them by name. They greet me every morning with a smile, it is comforting to know that they are welcoming of new people into their space!
The hospital I am currently placed at has a lower census than most, but this has given me time to really focus on the patients I have assigned each day and analyze how we can use MNT to help them through their conditions. Lately, I have been working on a lot of tube feeding and TPN orders. This has been super helpful to get hands on practice with real patients as opposed to case study patients. One difficulty we have been facing is that there is/was a TPN feed shortage due to the storms that happened in North Carolina a few months ago, which affected a major production plant. My day at the hospital typically starts around 9 AM, where I begin charting on patients due for the day until rounds at 10:30. Rounds can last anywhere from 30-60 minutes but are a great time to learn more about the patients’ day to day medical updates from the care team (MD’s, RNs, PT/OT). I typically return to the diet office to finish any charting before I go see my patients. Our conversations vary depending on if it is an initial assessment, follow up, trigger, or consult. I always go to my patients’ rooms prepared with questions written out that I need to ask to fully assess their nutrition status. I found that writing my questions beforehand helps to ensure that I won’t get overwhelmed or sidetracked with different topics, as some patients can be very chatty. After this, I typically have lunch and then finish charting my patients and then going over my work with my preceptor, where they can critique and offer suggestions on the plan of care. This usually brings me to the end of the day, about 4PM. I am currently in the process of planning for a specialty rotation as I have about 6 weeks left at my clinical site. I am excited to be able to pick something I am interested in to further my education in that topic and decide if I would like to pursue a career in it.  Hi everyone and future interns.
My name is Douglas Chironno. I received my Masters degree in Nutrition and Exercise from Queens College and I started my internship in the Fall of 2024, starting with my clinical rotation in a hospital setting. I wanted to share some tips I learned along the way that I think will be helpful for your in your clinical rotation. The pre assignments can be lengthly but well worth the preparation. They are a good tool to refresh on before each rotation, in many cases the timing was perfect…If you get a chance, don’t hesitate to review them right before you walk in the door. Another tip is to get familiar with your site’s ADIME note asap. The ADIME note is the way we organize information and communicate it with the other RDs and interdisciplinary teams. I found it helpful to make a blueprint of my sites ADIME note for reference. Once you have the note down and studied the pre assignment material, with help from your preceptor you’ll be ready for anything.  Pork-Chop the pig (whom we did our best to hide breakfast and lunch from) visited the Long Term Care Unit and put smiles on everyone’s faces, especially the residents. “This is one expressive pig,” the owner stated as we did the rounds. Residents who sometimes are quiet and withdrawn seemed to perk up and become lively as Pork-Chop snorted and asked for snacks.
Just like dogs have been recognized to be able to provide by organizations such as CMS- therapy, pigs can increase attention and awareness, create a sense of connection, and help uplift emotional ebbs and down points.[1] This is a very important therapeutic tool in environments such as this, as the National Institute on Aging reports that older adults have multiple potential risk factors for depression, such as lack of ability to manage self-care, social disconnectedness, and brain changes.[2] Depression also fuels chronic disease, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.[3] This makes it even more valuable, to utilize therapy animals of all kinds to uplift the emotions and positively stimulate the mind. Pork-Chop visits the LTC unit about 1-2 times per month, but it seems that the residents would love to see him more often, even though they can’t fully communicate that desire in many cases. Staff, family, and yours truly are all of the same thought, though- “what a pig!” I look forward to working with Pork-Chop again someday soon! [1]https://www.cms.gov/files/document/ltss-webinar-june-2024-unique-benefits-animal-assisted-therapy-individuals-long-term-care.pdf [2] https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/mental-and-emotional-health/depression-and-older-adults [3] https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/chronic-illness-mental-health |