Hello everyone! My name is Ruth Tsige and I am from Region 11 located in beautiful Denver, Colorado. Prior to attending internship orientation, I did not know what to expect in terms of what I will be doing during the internship. However, attending the internship orientation has not only allowed me to gain confidence, but also opened various career connection opportunities. The Sodexo internship has been an enlightening experience as I am professionally growing as well as building my self-initiative and confidence into becoming a well-rounded nutrition educator.
Thus far, I have been able to complete food service rotation at Rose Medical Center and long term care rotation through online activities. The wonderful part about this internship, I would say, is working with dietitians that have years of experience and other health care professionals who have allowed me to experience some of the real-life challenges I will encounter once I start my career as a registered dietitian. Though I have realized that food service management is not to the best of my interest, I learned that it is often inseparable with the other rotations and is vital for operational and business purposes. In addition, food service management often accompanies tasks and projects that hospitals, schools, and residential centers depend on to properly function. I had the opportunity to complete a health fair community project at this hospital in which I had the opportunity to get creative by handing out brochures and supplemental material like salad shakers and recipes/ideas that promote healthy balanced eating while on the go. Especially during this time, the nurses enjoyed the educational material about protecting their health during hectic times and cheerfully utilized all the supplemental material. In all honesty, I was extremely excited that they were so interest in nutrition and protecting their health. I felt a sense of accomplishment to have the opportunity to educate other health care professionals on the importance of healthy eating.
Currently, I am finishing my community rotation at the Food Bank of the Rockies working on age specific assignments for seniors, adults, and children. Although I was not able to attend a specific location for all of my community rotation due to safety changes made for COVID, I am thankful that I had the opportunity to complete some of my community hours online through educational webinars/presentations, and case studies/simulations remotely. Going forward, I am anticipating my return to Rose Medical Center for my clinical rotation to obtain hands on patient experience. Also, I anticipate getting oncology/outpatient experience at the Denver Wellness and Nutrition Center. Overall, the thing that I enjoy most about the internship is that all the guidelines are concise and require self-initiative, which allows you to focus on your leadership, time-management, and communication skills. To say the least, it has been a major learning experience. Furthermore, I also like that I have an opportunity to spend more time in the chosen nutrition field of my interest which is outpatient/oncology nutrition.
Thus far, I have been able to complete food service rotation at Rose Medical Center and long term care rotation through online activities. The wonderful part about this internship, I would say, is working with dietitians that have years of experience and other health care professionals who have allowed me to experience some of the real-life challenges I will encounter once I start my career as a registered dietitian. Though I have realized that food service management is not to the best of my interest, I learned that it is often inseparable with the other rotations and is vital for operational and business purposes. In addition, food service management often accompanies tasks and projects that hospitals, schools, and residential centers depend on to properly function. I had the opportunity to complete a health fair community project at this hospital in which I had the opportunity to get creative by handing out brochures and supplemental material like salad shakers and recipes/ideas that promote healthy balanced eating while on the go. Especially during this time, the nurses enjoyed the educational material about protecting their health during hectic times and cheerfully utilized all the supplemental material. In all honesty, I was extremely excited that they were so interest in nutrition and protecting their health. I felt a sense of accomplishment to have the opportunity to educate other health care professionals on the importance of healthy eating.
Currently, I am finishing my community rotation at the Food Bank of the Rockies working on age specific assignments for seniors, adults, and children. Although I was not able to attend a specific location for all of my community rotation due to safety changes made for COVID, I am thankful that I had the opportunity to complete some of my community hours online through educational webinars/presentations, and case studies/simulations remotely. Going forward, I am anticipating my return to Rose Medical Center for my clinical rotation to obtain hands on patient experience. Also, I anticipate getting oncology/outpatient experience at the Denver Wellness and Nutrition Center. Overall, the thing that I enjoy most about the internship is that all the guidelines are concise and require self-initiative, which allows you to focus on your leadership, time-management, and communication skills. To say the least, it has been a major learning experience. Furthermore, I also like that I have an opportunity to spend more time in the chosen nutrition field of my interest which is outpatient/oncology nutrition.
