Hi there! My name is Kelby Brink and I am an intern at the Allentown campus in PA. I am currently in my clinical rotation at Lehigh Valley Hospital- Cedar Crest and completing community hours on the side. The great part about completing community hours throughout the internship instead of in a block rotation is that I get to participate in a wide variety of experiences as they come up. I was recently at DeSales University with a college RD. Her position is a regional RD, meaning that she travels to many colleges in the area to work with students who have food allergies and to do nutrition-related events for the students. During my visit, we had a table with free samples of trail mix. The goal was to show students that there are healthy, inexpensive, and fast snack options to have during finals week. The students that stopped by our table were excited about the trail mix and many asked us questions about what healthy options are available in the dinning hall.
During this visit, I was also able to sit in on a meeting with a student who has food allergies. In this meeting, the student, the RD, the chef, and the general manager of the kitchen all collaborated on how to make sure this student had food he could eat that he also enjoyed. They went through each station at the cafeteria and gave the student suggestions for foods that they already carry, and then the student gave ideas on other specialty food products that the kitchen could purchase/prepare. It was great to see the interdisciplinary teamwork on this issue! Each participant had a unique view on this issue and they talked through the problem, possible solutions, any barriers, and then came up with a final solution.
My advice for the dietetic internship is to never say no to a new experience. I was not originally supposed to go to the meeting with the student with food allergies, but when my preceptor asked me if I wanted to go I immediately said yes! If I had said no and not gone to the meeting, I would not have seen the behind-the-scenes pieces that are working to ensure that specialty food products are available for students who need them. I learned a lot about the vital role a college RD has for students with food allergies through this experience!
During this visit, I was also able to sit in on a meeting with a student who has food allergies. In this meeting, the student, the RD, the chef, and the general manager of the kitchen all collaborated on how to make sure this student had food he could eat that he also enjoyed. They went through each station at the cafeteria and gave the student suggestions for foods that they already carry, and then the student gave ideas on other specialty food products that the kitchen could purchase/prepare. It was great to see the interdisciplinary teamwork on this issue! Each participant had a unique view on this issue and they talked through the problem, possible solutions, any barriers, and then came up with a final solution.
My advice for the dietetic internship is to never say no to a new experience. I was not originally supposed to go to the meeting with the student with food allergies, but when my preceptor asked me if I wanted to go I immediately said yes! If I had said no and not gone to the meeting, I would not have seen the behind-the-scenes pieces that are working to ensure that specialty food products are available for students who need them. I learned a lot about the vital role a college RD has for students with food allergies through this experience!
