Hello! My name is Olivia Lynch, and I am a Sodexo dietetic intern with the Baltimore/Washington DC campus. I am located in the middle of the picture below!
One of my favorite pleasures of being an intern is the variety of experiences that I am able to be a part of. I enjoy being able to advocate for my patients, whether it be at my clinical site at Washington Adventist Hospital, or at the State Legislative Interactive Workshop in Annapolis, MD, held by the Maryland Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (MAND). This workshop promotes advocating for our profession by visiting Maryland state legislators and advising legislators of nutrition bills that we support as registered dietitians and as dietetic interns or students. For instance, I was able to speak with Jay Jalisi, a delegate representing Baltimore County, about the importance of supporting the bill “Transportation- Complete Streets-Access to Healthy Food.” This bill allots one million dollars to areas needing safer street designs such as paved shoulders, protected bicycle lanes, share the road signage, and other means of promoting access to healthy foods for individuals living in food desserts. I felt empowered being able to voice my opinion and share my experiences of how food desserts can lead to an increased risk of having health problems that are often seen in the hospital setting.
MAND’s State Legislative Interactive Workshop also gave me a means of networking with registered dietitians in the area, which was very valuable as my fellow interns and I will be
graduating the internship in a few months! As I am wrapping up the medical nutrition therapy concentration, I am looking forward to beginning the community rotation in the next few weeks. This internship has so many diverse experiences and has thus far exposed me to many different possibilities of career opportunities!
One of my favorite pleasures of being an intern is the variety of experiences that I am able to be a part of. I enjoy being able to advocate for my patients, whether it be at my clinical site at Washington Adventist Hospital, or at the State Legislative Interactive Workshop in Annapolis, MD, held by the Maryland Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (MAND). This workshop promotes advocating for our profession by visiting Maryland state legislators and advising legislators of nutrition bills that we support as registered dietitians and as dietetic interns or students. For instance, I was able to speak with Jay Jalisi, a delegate representing Baltimore County, about the importance of supporting the bill “Transportation- Complete Streets-Access to Healthy Food.” This bill allots one million dollars to areas needing safer street designs such as paved shoulders, protected bicycle lanes, share the road signage, and other means of promoting access to healthy foods for individuals living in food desserts. I felt empowered being able to voice my opinion and share my experiences of how food desserts can lead to an increased risk of having health problems that are often seen in the hospital setting.
MAND’s State Legislative Interactive Workshop also gave me a means of networking with registered dietitians in the area, which was very valuable as my fellow interns and I will be
graduating the internship in a few months! As I am wrapping up the medical nutrition therapy concentration, I am looking forward to beginning the community rotation in the next few weeks. This internship has so many diverse experiences and has thus far exposed me to many different possibilities of career opportunities!
