A Dream Rotation and a Full-Circle Moment

By Mabel Del Castillo Guccione, MS

Nearly seven years ago, I walked away from a decade-long career in corporate media, Nielsen, Univision, the whole fast-paced world of it, to follow something I couldn't ignore any longer. I had spent years caught in a cycle of diet culture, stress eating, and feeling deeply disconnected from my own body. When I finally decided enough was enough, I didn't just want to heal myself. I wanted to help others do the same. That decision led me to NYU's Master's in Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics program and, eventually, to the Sodexo Dietetic Internship, and specifically to a rotation I had been dreaming about long before I set foot in a classroom again.

This past spring, I completed my integrative nutrition rotation with Dr. Harika Pal, and it was everything I hoped for and more.

I first knew Dr. Pal as her patient at Parsley Health. What struck me most was the way she made complexity feel manageable, translating dense clinical information into clear, compassionate, and actionable steps that left patients feeling empowered rather than overwhelmed. That approach was exactly the kind of practitioner I aspired to become. So, when she agreed to be my preceptor, I was beyond excited. This rotation was a big reason I chose the Sodexo internship.

Over five weeks, Dr. Pal and I met in person each week to shadow appointments, discuss clinical concepts, and map out the week's focus areas. I created client education handouts on topics like protein, iron, fiber, mindful eating, breastfeeding nutrition, and building a balanced plate, along with comparison trackers for prenatal vitamins and baby formulas. Every piece had to be clear, visually engaging, and genuinely useful, and Dr. Pal's feedback pushed me to raise the bar each time.

The clinical depth went far beyond handouts. I gained hands-on exposure to functional testing, including the DUTCH hormone test, the Genova stool test, SIBO testing, food sensitivity protocols, heavy metal testing, and genetic testing. We covered PCOS, perimenopause, thyroid health, autoimmune disease, preconception nutrition, mitochondrial health, and more. Dr. Pal has a gift for making interconnected systems feel intuitive; her analogy of hormones working together like a symphony will forever stay with me.

By the end of my rotation, Dr. Pal shared that she was consistently impressed by the quality of my work, my curiosity, and my ability to connect concepts to real-world applications. That meant the world to me. But more than the feedback, I left feeling genuinely prepared and inspired to complete my IFNA training and continue building resources rooted in the integrative, root-cause approach I witnessed firsthand.
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Functional nutrition isn't just a specialty I want to work in; it's the lens through which I want to serve every client.

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