Hello! My name is Allison Rich and I am a Sodexo Baltimore/Washington DC campus dietetic intern at Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC). I am so thrilled to be a part of this internship program and I am loving all the learnings from my first month of the clinical rotation. I was drawn to this profession because of the opportunity to interact with patients and I have had the privilege of meeting and working with so many wonderful patients in my short time here. One of the dietitians at GBMC snapped this photos of me beside my go to document! This wonderful document lists where certain nutrients are absorbed in the GI tract – so useful in predicting nutrient deficiencies or GI issues in patients.
My experiences in basic clinical centered around patients with diabetes, cardiac issues and GI dysfunction. So far I’ve gotten very familiar with how to screen patients for nutritional risk, how to education patients on a various diets such as low fiber, carbohydrate controlled and renal. During my first week in clinical I was able to see a barium swallow test, which was key in helping to understand aspiration risk and the reasons for modified consistency diets. I also got to be a part of the ICU rounds and I have done several in depth physical nutrition assessments. My favorite experiences so far include helping to manage a patient’s anxieties about a new diagnosis of Type II DM through education about meal planning and label reading, helping to teach patients how to eat a low fiber diet after bowel resections and being able to answer general diet questions to assist patients in leading a healthier lifestyle after they are discharged.
I’m so thankful for the time and attention of the dietitians at GBMC in helping mentor and coach me despite their busy schedules. I will certainly pass the learnings along! I’m entering my first week of intermediate clinical, which now brings in patients on enteral nutrition. Our internship class had the enteral nutrition lecture at GBMC this Monday, which was so informative! The major takeaway from the lecture was to never stop researching the latest findings and to familiar oneself with the ASPEN guidelines of 2016. I look forward to the many more learnings of the internship as theory meets practice!
My experiences in basic clinical centered around patients with diabetes, cardiac issues and GI dysfunction. So far I’ve gotten very familiar with how to screen patients for nutritional risk, how to education patients on a various diets such as low fiber, carbohydrate controlled and renal. During my first week in clinical I was able to see a barium swallow test, which was key in helping to understand aspiration risk and the reasons for modified consistency diets. I also got to be a part of the ICU rounds and I have done several in depth physical nutrition assessments. My favorite experiences so far include helping to manage a patient’s anxieties about a new diagnosis of Type II DM through education about meal planning and label reading, helping to teach patients how to eat a low fiber diet after bowel resections and being able to answer general diet questions to assist patients in leading a healthier lifestyle after they are discharged.
I’m so thankful for the time and attention of the dietitians at GBMC in helping mentor and coach me despite their busy schedules. I will certainly pass the learnings along! I’m entering my first week of intermediate clinical, which now brings in patients on enteral nutrition. Our internship class had the enteral nutrition lecture at GBMC this Monday, which was so informative! The major takeaway from the lecture was to never stop researching the latest findings and to familiar oneself with the ASPEN guidelines of 2016. I look forward to the many more learnings of the internship as theory meets practice!
