Jenna Keepers - Region 5

Hi everyone! My name is Jenna, and I am an intern in region 5 in Baltimore, MD. I am currently in my clinical rotation. I have learned so much in a matter of months. Over the course of my clinical rotations, I have become more comfortable speaking with patients and also people on the interdisciplinary team. I wanted to share in my post about an experience with someone on the interdisciplinary team in the hospital. For a lot of the patients I see, I read the Speech-Language Pathologist’s (SLP) notes. If patients have dysphagia or altered mental status coming into the hospital, they will not be cleared for an oral diet until they pass a swallow evaluation and are assessed for what texture diet they are cleared for. For patients that need a more significant swallow evaluation, they might have a modified barium swallow (MBS) done. I was able to observe an MBS with an SLP during my clinical rotation. During an MBS, you are able to see how a patient is swallowing and if there are any signs of aspiration. The SLP gives the patient a few different trials of liquids and solids which have barium in them so they are observable on an x-ray machine. It was so interesting to observe and helped me to better understand SLP notes to know why a patient is on a particular texture diet based on the findings from that evaluation. One of my takeaways from this experience is how important it is to have connections with the interdisciplinary team – to work together to provide the best care for the patient and to understand the unique role everyone plays on the team.

Three tips for future and current dietetic interns:

• Have a support network while you are going through this internship
• Be willing to learn and if you don’t know something…that is ok! Your preceptor understands and is there to teach you
• When you are writing notes for patients and making nutrition recommendations, be confident in your recommendations and be able to explain “why” you chose them!

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