Sarah - Region 1

Happy (almost) Spring!!
 
My name is Sarah and I’m doing my dietetic internship in Maine! Below I’ll provide some tips to help with finding community hours.
 
Don’t be afraid to use your resources! Especially when it comes to planning your community rotations, it can be tough to find enough hours so it is important to use all available resources. Make a mention to the people you are working with that you are seeking community hours, you never know who might have some connections. One of my preceptors was able to connect me with a company she used to work for. Another way I found community hours is through a tube feed (TF) representative. During one of my clinical rotations a TF rep came into the dietitian’s office to provide some TF supplies and information. I ended up getting this reps business card and she was eager to have me shadow her. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your program director if you’re having a tough time finding community locations, they are here to help us! Here are some additional ideas to consider when seeking community hours:

• Grocery store dietitians
• Outpatient dietitians (there may be some affiliated with your hospital)
• Private practice RDs
• Talk to any per diem RDs at your clinical site, oftentimes they are also working part-time at other sites  

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