Hi everyone! My name is Taylor Palm and I’m a Sodexo dietetic intern at the Allentown Campus. I am currently doing food service management, my (I can’t believe I’m typing this) final rotation of the internship. I am a Medical Nutrition Therapy concentration, meaning I got to spend extra time in acute care at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey. The 9 months I spent here was absolutely priceless. What I loved most about this hospital was the amazing preceptors who dedicated so much time and energy to give me the best experience I could ask for. They each taught me something special about this field and I could not be more grateful for them and Sodexo.
My favorite part of this rotation was the time I spent in the T/SICU, the trauma and surgical intensive care unit. The dietitian who covers this floor is a Certified Nutrition Support Clinician (CNSC) and a true book of knowledge! She taught me so much about critical care and how to work with a variety of patients including those with nutrition support, continuous venovenous hemodialysis, traumatic brain injury, open abdomen and polytrauma. One of the hardest parts about clinical rotations for me was developing confidence in myself as a nutrition expert. The day I really started to find my footing happened when I represented nutrition in T/SICU critical care rounds. A patient with a feeding tube had hypernatremia, a high concentration of sodium in the blood. As the interdisciplinary team discussed the case, one of the medical students suggested increasing IV fluids. I felt nervous speaking up with a different opinion, but I went for it and said I recommended increasing free water flushes in the tube feed. The attending physician pointed at me, looking at his med student and said, “That’s exactly what you should do in this case.” I leaned in to the RD and whispered, “I’m basically a doctor.” From then on, we jokingly referred to my new credential as a BMD (Basic Medical Doctor). All jokes aside, I will never forget this day. When the attending praised my recommendation, I realized I was really cut out for this. In that moment, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, I had chosen the right career path!
My favorite part of this rotation was the time I spent in the T/SICU, the trauma and surgical intensive care unit. The dietitian who covers this floor is a Certified Nutrition Support Clinician (CNSC) and a true book of knowledge! She taught me so much about critical care and how to work with a variety of patients including those with nutrition support, continuous venovenous hemodialysis, traumatic brain injury, open abdomen and polytrauma. One of the hardest parts about clinical rotations for me was developing confidence in myself as a nutrition expert. The day I really started to find my footing happened when I represented nutrition in T/SICU critical care rounds. A patient with a feeding tube had hypernatremia, a high concentration of sodium in the blood. As the interdisciplinary team discussed the case, one of the medical students suggested increasing IV fluids. I felt nervous speaking up with a different opinion, but I went for it and said I recommended increasing free water flushes in the tube feed. The attending physician pointed at me, looking at his med student and said, “That’s exactly what you should do in this case.” I leaned in to the RD and whispered, “I’m basically a doctor.” From then on, we jokingly referred to my new credential as a BMD (Basic Medical Doctor). All jokes aside, I will never forget this day. When the attending praised my recommendation, I realized I was really cut out for this. In that moment, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, I had chosen the right career path!
