Hi! My name is Farrah and I am an intern in region 2 in Warwick, Rhode Island. I started my internship with the clinical rotation. I always had an interest in science and the clinical aspect of dietetics, so this was the rotation I was most looking forward to. Right off the bat I knew this was going to be an interesting 440 hours, and I couldn’t wait to start learning. The hospital I was at had about 5 RDs that I worked with. This was a great experience, as I was able to see various styles of charting, education, and interviewing. I could pick and choose which styles worked best for me and was able to create my own process to screen, interview, and chart on patients. Having this autonomy, I feel, helped me grow as an intern. By the end of the rotation, I was seeing 10-13 patients a day, something that seemed so intimidating at the very beginning!
My favorite experience was the advanced clinical rotation where I spent 4 weeks with the ICU RD. We would attend interdisciplinary rounds every morning and go through each patient with the team. Having the opportunity to do this provided me with valuable clinical knowledge that you can only learn from hands on experience. Getting to collaborate with the nurses, pharmacy techs, medical residents and physicians offered information from other disciplines that should be considered when creating an individualized nutrition plan. It was so interesting to hear the clinicians talk through a patient’s medical course and devise a plan to help them get better, and to see how nutrition plays into that plan. Learning more about the medical side helped me to connect the specific medical nutrition therapy that would be most appropriate for the patient. This part of the clinical rotation further solidified my interest in my critical care MNT and I am looking forward to my concentration rotation in this area!
My favorite experience was the advanced clinical rotation where I spent 4 weeks with the ICU RD. We would attend interdisciplinary rounds every morning and go through each patient with the team. Having the opportunity to do this provided me with valuable clinical knowledge that you can only learn from hands on experience. Getting to collaborate with the nurses, pharmacy techs, medical residents and physicians offered information from other disciplines that should be considered when creating an individualized nutrition plan. It was so interesting to hear the clinicians talk through a patient’s medical course and devise a plan to help them get better, and to see how nutrition plays into that plan. Learning more about the medical side helped me to connect the specific medical nutrition therapy that would be most appropriate for the patient. This part of the clinical rotation further solidified my interest in my critical care MNT and I am looking forward to my concentration rotation in this area!
