Rita Patnode - Region 1

​Hello! My name is Rita Patnode and I am an RD2B. I am a dietetic intern who attends the GP program with Sodexo and URI. I report to region 1, and I am located in Massachusetts. My expected graduation date is August 2024, where I will then take my Registered Dietitian exam and acquire my LDN for practice in Massachusetts.
 
I have recently had the opportunity to complete my food service rotation at a local college, which is a Sodexo site, where I reported to the RD there. Besides the RD, I had the chance to work with the entire staff including the food service director, general manager, front of house manager as well as catering, baking, and the entire kitchen staff. I also got the opportunity to work with the students and shadow the RD on sports nutrition-based counseling. One of the most valuable experiences was that no matter what department I interned with, they treated me as part of the team. This made my internship experience the most rewarding and enjoyable. While at the establishment, I worked on several projects to improve the overall experience for the students and worked to improve effectiveness of the establishment’s allergy free zones. While I was there in the fall season, I got to be part of the festive events with food. One event that I worked on was to deliver a health-focused meal around the Thanksgiving theme. I was able to create a pot pie which offered benefits of high protein, portion control, low sodium and healthy fats. The meal was offered in both plant or animal-based options for the students, and I was able to provide recipe cards and educate the students to recreate it at home. I was able to pass out at least 100 samples and got really good feedback.
 
Besides making an impact on this healthy meal recipe, I was able to intern with many departments on a deeper level such as production for cost analysis, bakery and kitchen for sizing and quantity planning of recipes, catering for planning of setup, and marketing for best timing and promotion for events. It was a very rewarding experience and taught me valuable skills on planning and production for the future. I also identified that there was a high emphasis on the 9 most common food allergies and that the school did a great job with labeling what each food contained, however the bakery did not have this information present. I worked with the bakery directly to identify each of the 150 recipes and their allergies and listed them on signage when each bakery item was served. I also worked to develop a process that if a new recipe was developed, a new card needed to be created to avoid labeling of future baked goods. This helped the students to identify what was in the foods, helped increase allergy awareness ratings, as well as kept the students safe. Overall, the food service rotation was a rewarding experience, and I am looking forward to completing my clinical rotation this spring. 

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