At the start of the internship, I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted to do when I finished the internship, and I had a five-year plan of how to get there. However, my time in the internship has completely messed me up in the best ways possible. I had so many preconceived notions about what I would like and what I never wanted to do. Now I feel like the possibilities in dietetics and what I would enjoy are endless.
I started my internship splitting my time between community and clinical. I spent my community time with St. Jude’s Move More Eat Healthy program and taught classes, went to health fairs, held tastings at schools, and experienced outpatient counseling. As expected, it was joyful and fun!
Unexpectedly, I found myself being more excited for my clinical days than most of my community days. It was still intimidating at first, but I began to love it surprisingly quickly. The constant learning, working with other specialties, and thinking critically was so engaging. I had thought of clinical experience as a necessity, but I now think of it as something that will bring me fulfillment and help me grow in the profession.
I am just a week into my food service management rotation. To be honest, this was the rotation I was least excited to complete. I am still unsure if I would seek out a position in food service management, but I am enjoying it much more than I expected. I enjoy the people, creativity of planning menus, and organization of ordering.
My five-year plan is now less of a plan and more of a list of things that I like, might like, want to try, and would like to learn. I still have my long-term care and concentration rotations to complete, and I fully expect to add even more things to my list. I am now way more confused with what I want to do with my life than I was when I started the internship. I think that is a good thing. We are told and have experienced that it is tough to go through schooling, then tough to get into an internship, and then tough to complete the internship. I anticipate it will also be tough to pass the exam and tough to work in the field. One of my fears was that I would tough out all of those things and then realize this was not for me. So far, the internship has proven that this will not be the case and that I can definitely find a path that is for me in dietetics.
I started my internship splitting my time between community and clinical. I spent my community time with St. Jude’s Move More Eat Healthy program and taught classes, went to health fairs, held tastings at schools, and experienced outpatient counseling. As expected, it was joyful and fun!
Unexpectedly, I found myself being more excited for my clinical days than most of my community days. It was still intimidating at first, but I began to love it surprisingly quickly. The constant learning, working with other specialties, and thinking critically was so engaging. I had thought of clinical experience as a necessity, but I now think of it as something that will bring me fulfillment and help me grow in the profession.
I am just a week into my food service management rotation. To be honest, this was the rotation I was least excited to complete. I am still unsure if I would seek out a position in food service management, but I am enjoying it much more than I expected. I enjoy the people, creativity of planning menus, and organization of ordering.
My five-year plan is now less of a plan and more of a list of things that I like, might like, want to try, and would like to learn. I still have my long-term care and concentration rotations to complete, and I fully expect to add even more things to my list. I am now way more confused with what I want to do with my life than I was when I started the internship. I think that is a good thing. We are told and have experienced that it is tough to go through schooling, then tough to get into an internship, and then tough to complete the internship. I anticipate it will also be tough to pass the exam and tough to work in the field. One of my fears was that I would tough out all of those things and then realize this was not for me. So far, the internship has proven that this will not be the case and that I can definitely find a path that is for me in dietetics.
