Casey Rand - Region 3

Hi everyone! I’m Casey, a dietetic intern in region 3A. I live in New York City where I have completed my clinical, food service, management, and long-term care rotations. Now, I am just finishing up my concentration in integrative nutrition.
 
I started off the internship months ago in my clinical rotation, where I honed my acute care and interview skills. My preceptors often joked about how much time I would spend chatting with my patients. It was true, I loved taking time to answer their questions and make more personal recommendations as appropriate. This experience really confirmed for me that I wanted to pursue the integrative nutrition track within the wellness concentration, which would afford me more time to speak with patients and tailor their nutrition care.
 
To prepare for interning with an integrative dietitian, I completed Track 1 of the Integrative and Functional Nutrition Academy’s training. I learned about how integrative nutrition takes a “root cause” approach, identifying stressors, toxins, adverse food reactions, infections, and nutritional imbalances that may be producing adverse symptoms for clients. Often, individuals turn towards integrative nutrition to identify and treat symptoms that are not conventionally diagnosable. To do this, integrative dietitians use extensive assessment tools and functional testing that help identify where these imbalances stem from. Clients are then given highly personalized dietary, lifestyle, and supplement recommendations that correct these imbalances. Nothing is better than seeing how clients progress from their first session to their last, not only feeling like a new person, but feeling empowered to make nutrition decisions for themselves. It’s incredibly rewarding to help individuals prevent disease, while equipping them with the tools they need to feel their best every day.
 
Sodexo’s internship is incredibly unique in that you can choose a concentration and select your preceptors, allowing you to really customize your experience. I encourage future interns to make the most of this flexibility! The internship is the best time to keep an open mind – remember, rotations are temporary. If you push yourself outside of your comfort zone or what others around you are doing, you might end up finding something you love like I did! 

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