Hi everyone! My name is Kristen Kiesow. I am a Region 4 dietetic intern based in Philadelphia, PA, and I am currently in my advanced clinical rotations at Nazareth Hospital. The first couple of weeks were definitely a learning curve. I have always worked with pediatric patients, so being in a hospital that primarily treated adults and seniors was completely new to me. After some time, I became comfortable in this new environment and was able to understand the difference between working with peds and adults. I really enjoy working in an interdisciplinary team, so I greatly appreciate being able to interact frequently with speech pathology and wound care while treating different patients. I was also able to observe a bariatric surgery (and didn’t even pass out!!). I will be at Nazareth Hospital until the end of January and will complete my pediatric concentration at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in February.
In addition to clinical rotations, I have had many community opportunities. I participated in running the nutrition booth at Nazareth Hospital’s health fair, assisted in teaching lectures about pulmonary disease at Jefferson Torresdale hospital, and spent three days with the nutritionists at the North Philadelphia WIC office. Recently, I spent the day with a retail dietitian at a ShopRite in northeast Philadelphia. We created a colorful display for the new recipe of the month, and we taught a class at a local library about mindful eating during the holidays. My favorite, and most impactful, community experience has been working at St. Barnabas Women’s Shelter in West Philadelphia. Every Thursday evening, they have a class called Women’s Wellness. This is an opportunity for women living in shelter to come together for a class about different women’s health topics. I conducted one of the sessions about healthy eating and simple weight management tips. I really enjoyed meeting the women and children living in this shelter, learning about their difficulties with nutrition, and hopefully providing them with simple tips so they can work on making healthy lifestyle choices that are also sensitive to their current living situation. I am so excited to continue spending time at Women’s Wellness events, and I am scheduled to run a session about shopping on a budget in the new year.
If I had one piece of advice to give to any current or future interns, it would be to try everything! I entered this internship being very one track minded: I wanted to be focused only in pediatric nutrition. While that is still my primary interest, being in this internship has opened my eyes to the vast world of opportunities there are in nutrition. This is your time to have experiences and meet people you would not ordinarily interact with; maybe one of them could change your career path entirely and change it for the best!
In addition to clinical rotations, I have had many community opportunities. I participated in running the nutrition booth at Nazareth Hospital’s health fair, assisted in teaching lectures about pulmonary disease at Jefferson Torresdale hospital, and spent three days with the nutritionists at the North Philadelphia WIC office. Recently, I spent the day with a retail dietitian at a ShopRite in northeast Philadelphia. We created a colorful display for the new recipe of the month, and we taught a class at a local library about mindful eating during the holidays. My favorite, and most impactful, community experience has been working at St. Barnabas Women’s Shelter in West Philadelphia. Every Thursday evening, they have a class called Women’s Wellness. This is an opportunity for women living in shelter to come together for a class about different women’s health topics. I conducted one of the sessions about healthy eating and simple weight management tips. I really enjoyed meeting the women and children living in this shelter, learning about their difficulties with nutrition, and hopefully providing them with simple tips so they can work on making healthy lifestyle choices that are also sensitive to their current living situation. I am so excited to continue spending time at Women’s Wellness events, and I am scheduled to run a session about shopping on a budget in the new year.
If I had one piece of advice to give to any current or future interns, it would be to try everything! I entered this internship being very one track minded: I wanted to be focused only in pediatric nutrition. While that is still my primary interest, being in this internship has opened my eyes to the vast world of opportunities there are in nutrition. This is your time to have experiences and meet people you would not ordinarily interact with; maybe one of them could change your career path entirely and change it for the best!
