My name is Brookel White, and I am in dietetic intern residing in San Diego in region 12. I started my internship in October and I am approaching the end of my internship with most of the lengthier rotations behind me!
I have a family, so Sodexo seemed like the perfect internship with the option to intern part time if need be. I’m so glad I did. It has been such a great experience throughout with amazing opportunities and plenty of support.
I have truly enjoyed every rotation thus far. My favorites have been food service and clinical. Many of my preceptors have become mentors and individuals whom I feel comfortable seeking advice about in my career. In my food service rotation, my preceptor was a professional chef who had worked at many restaurants in San Diego. He showed me the ins and outs of being a food service manager and took extra time to teach me aspects about food service I was interested in.
My clinical rotation was my absolute favorite. My husband, son, and I made the move to Yucaipa to move in with family while I completed my rotation at my nearby clinical site, Riverside Community Hospital. During my time at RCH I interned with a small team of dietitians where I got ample time with each of them and their specific patient populations. Some of my favorite experiences were witnessing a PEG placement and a tracheal extubation, going to ICU rounds, seeing a barium swallow test, and teaching a bariatric nutrition class. There were endless opportunities to learn during this rotation. I saw patients with various types of enteral and parenteral tube feeds, calculated and provided my EN and PN recommendations, and practiced many NFPEs. And even though my clinical rotation was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I was able to see most all major nutrition related disease states and by the end I felt comfortable with the basics of practicing clinical nutrition!
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I was unable to complete my LTC rotation in person. Though, I recently reached out to the dietitian who was my planned preceptor for help on an assignment. I’m glad I did, because this too was a phenomenal experience. Over several hour-long phone conversations, she detailed what working as a LTC RD consultant or traditional employee was like. She was an absolute wealth of knowledge. I now feel I know what is needed to work in this position and it has made me consider the benefits of becoming a LTC consultant RD.
This has been such an exciting and challenging journey. The transition to learning online has had its obstacles with completing webinars and case studies in place of hands on learning. Though, this time has given me a chance explore the areas I am most interested in within each rotation. This has been an unexpected bonus in quarantine.
My experience as a whole as a dietetic intern has taught me that no matter the learning medium you can have amazing and worthwhile experiences and that you get out of it what you put in!
I have a family, so Sodexo seemed like the perfect internship with the option to intern part time if need be. I’m so glad I did. It has been such a great experience throughout with amazing opportunities and plenty of support.
I have truly enjoyed every rotation thus far. My favorites have been food service and clinical. Many of my preceptors have become mentors and individuals whom I feel comfortable seeking advice about in my career. In my food service rotation, my preceptor was a professional chef who had worked at many restaurants in San Diego. He showed me the ins and outs of being a food service manager and took extra time to teach me aspects about food service I was interested in.
My clinical rotation was my absolute favorite. My husband, son, and I made the move to Yucaipa to move in with family while I completed my rotation at my nearby clinical site, Riverside Community Hospital. During my time at RCH I interned with a small team of dietitians where I got ample time with each of them and their specific patient populations. Some of my favorite experiences were witnessing a PEG placement and a tracheal extubation, going to ICU rounds, seeing a barium swallow test, and teaching a bariatric nutrition class. There were endless opportunities to learn during this rotation. I saw patients with various types of enteral and parenteral tube feeds, calculated and provided my EN and PN recommendations, and practiced many NFPEs. And even though my clinical rotation was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I was able to see most all major nutrition related disease states and by the end I felt comfortable with the basics of practicing clinical nutrition!
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I was unable to complete my LTC rotation in person. Though, I recently reached out to the dietitian who was my planned preceptor for help on an assignment. I’m glad I did, because this too was a phenomenal experience. Over several hour-long phone conversations, she detailed what working as a LTC RD consultant or traditional employee was like. She was an absolute wealth of knowledge. I now feel I know what is needed to work in this position and it has made me consider the benefits of becoming a LTC consultant RD.
This has been such an exciting and challenging journey. The transition to learning online has had its obstacles with completing webinars and case studies in place of hands on learning. Though, this time has given me a chance explore the areas I am most interested in within each rotation. This has been an unexpected bonus in quarantine.
My experience as a whole as a dietetic intern has taught me that no matter the learning medium you can have amazing and worthwhile experiences and that you get out of it what you put in!
