Evan Kaminsky - Region 4

“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
 
I think it is safe to say that completing my MS/DI was one of the biggest challenges that I have faced, but I am eternally thankful for this experience as I exponentially grew as a future registered dietitian.
 
I am most grateful that the Sodexo internship was a combination of structured yet flexible. It was structured in that my Sodexo advisors and directors helped to locate my clinical, food service, and long-term care rotation sites—which  are notoriously difficult for interns to find—yet flexible by allowing the freedom to find my community and specialty rotation sites. Our undergrad and graduate programs are fantastic at preparing us for MNT and foodservice management. Unfortunately, these courses just gloss of what it means to be a private practice RD. The freedom to choose my community and specialty rotation sites allowed me to find preceptors that specialize in this field. I can’t begin to thank my preceptors enough for selflessly taking me under their wing and showing me what it means to be a private practice RD from the business side of getting credentialed with insurance, properly billing, and maintaining accurate bookkeeping to the counseling side with motivational interviewing techniques.
 
It may feel overwhelming cold-calling and emailing RDs about precepting under them, but I have found that there are plenty of people willing to give back. I found it helpful to remember the law of large numbers, aka reaching out to a lot of potential preceptors without taking a ‘no’ or ‘no response’ personally. I also utilized the Find-a-Preceptor database found on the Academy’s website. If you find an RD willing to take the time to precept, respect their time by showing up on time, undistracted, and ready to learn.

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