Lauren Charlton - Region 8

​Hi everyone! My name is Lauren Charlton. I am a dietetic intern based in St Augustine, Florida, but originally from England. I started my internship in the Fall of 2024 and started with my clinical rotation in the hospital.
 
I don’t have one specific event to write about; because the entirety of the experience is what has been positive for me. Going into my clinical rotations, I wasn’t too optimistic as I have always found the acute care work daunting since the patients are often quite sick. However, within the first couple of weeks, I was feeling much more confident than I thought I would be by the end of the entire rotation. The preceptors were excellent in guiding me through the process and allowing me to slowly build up my skills. Ultimately, I came to realize, that it is “just” nutrition at the end of the day, and whether the patient has got multiple chronic conditions, or acute onset disease; the same principles apply. Building confidence in myself allowed the patients to trust me more and open up in our discussions. Over multiple consultations, I found an almost methodical pattern to my work which allowed me to actively listen to the patient rather than worrying about my next step. Over time, I have become familiar with different medications that may have interactions with nutrition, or certain diagnostic procedures that require NPO or certain diets. The most important thing to remember is that behind all the lab results and medical history, all the patients are real people, with real feelings, and listening to their concerns, and adjusting my advice to their preferences is the best way to ensure longer term adherence to interventions and ultimately better outcomes.
 
I still have my remaining rotations to complete in FSM, community and specialty. However, I have already gained so much knowledge in the weeks I have completed. Learning about a health system in a new country, whilst consolidating my MNT skills has definitely pushed me outside my comfort zone on a daily basis, but it has helped improve my confidence and problem solving skills. I am really looking forward to my specialty rotation, as it is an area in which I am extremely passionate about; but I think the basic clinical skills have given me a strong foundation. I am extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity to complete my internship with Sodexo and the support provided from both the preceptors and Sodexo DI team online.

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