Hello to all my fellow interns! My name is Pamela Santana, I am from region 12 based in San Diego, CA. I am so happy to say that I so far finished all of my clinical rotations! SHARP Healthcare dietitians have been nothing but wonderful teachers. I was fortunate enough to complete all my clinical rotations within SHARP Healthcare facilities and I enjoyed every site, especially my LTC rotation. I work as a diet technician at SHARP Coronado (which is where I did my LTC rotation and clinical management), so it was really awesome to come full circle from working in food service to learning how a dietitian collaborates with the food service staff to shadowing many meetings the clinical dietitian manger attends to in order to work with other departments of the hospital. Never thought that LTC would be one of my favorite rotations!
I started with my clinical rotation feeling extremely overwhelmed with everything that needed to get done. On my very first day of basic clinical, I was already getting my feet wet with enteral nutrition; I definitely hit the floor in running mode. However, slowly but surely, I moved along nicely. By the time I needed to present my research, I was feeling like I had a solid foundation to build off from. It was a bitter-sweet moment when I finished my clinical rotations. On one hand, finishing the assignments and long days at a hospital felt amazing. But on the other hand, I still wanted more time to learn even more!
Currently I’m starting my leadership rotation. So far, I’ve had the opportunity to shadow dietitians in an ICU and in a NICU. The NICU is another one of my favorite rotations. Additionally, I was able to shadow outpatient dietitians for bariatrics, diabetes, and eating disorders. I am really loving the outpatient environment. I like that there is more interaction and with a patient, more change to help educate and council. Also, I like that one can actually see the progress a patient has made and the impact a dietitian has had in that patient’s life.
Soon I will be starting my community rotation at Olivewood Gardens. I will be working in a community garden and have the chance to interact with kids, teenagers, adults, and seniors. Educating patients/people, I feel, is my strength and having experienced the outpatient environment has allowed my counseling skills to improve. A message to future interns: soak-up all the knowledge and skills from anywhere you go. Every site, location, setting, is an opportunity to learn and grow.
I started with my clinical rotation feeling extremely overwhelmed with everything that needed to get done. On my very first day of basic clinical, I was already getting my feet wet with enteral nutrition; I definitely hit the floor in running mode. However, slowly but surely, I moved along nicely. By the time I needed to present my research, I was feeling like I had a solid foundation to build off from. It was a bitter-sweet moment when I finished my clinical rotations. On one hand, finishing the assignments and long days at a hospital felt amazing. But on the other hand, I still wanted more time to learn even more!
Currently I’m starting my leadership rotation. So far, I’ve had the opportunity to shadow dietitians in an ICU and in a NICU. The NICU is another one of my favorite rotations. Additionally, I was able to shadow outpatient dietitians for bariatrics, diabetes, and eating disorders. I am really loving the outpatient environment. I like that there is more interaction and with a patient, more change to help educate and council. Also, I like that one can actually see the progress a patient has made and the impact a dietitian has had in that patient’s life.
Soon I will be starting my community rotation at Olivewood Gardens. I will be working in a community garden and have the chance to interact with kids, teenagers, adults, and seniors. Educating patients/people, I feel, is my strength and having experienced the outpatient environment has allowed my counseling skills to improve. A message to future interns: soak-up all the knowledge and skills from anywhere you go. Every site, location, setting, is an opportunity to learn and grow.
