My name is Victoria Martin, and I am a region 11 intern in the Denver Metro area. I have had the privilege of doing many of my community and wellness concentration hours with Sodexo’s Nutrition and Wellness Center. This is a unique organization that provides outpatient nutrition education and counseling to people in different settings, such as behavioral health centers and doctor’s offices, with a variety of needs such as cancer, depression, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and liver transplants.
At first, I was nervous to sit down with patients and put into practice my knowledge and education. However, the more patients that I was able to see, the more my confidence grew. I was able to practice my motivational interviewing skills and I gained experience in the nutrition care process for a variety of patients. In addition, I did many group presentations in the behavioral health centers, where I developed appropriate content, activities, and handouts to support those presentations. I have loved having interactive group experiences which spark conversations with my participants. It is such a good feeling when people are receptive and genuinely interested in the topics you are presenting, and they want more information following the presentation. My favorite project so far has been my Cooking for Wellness demonstration. I recorded a demo on how to cook a butternut squash and couscous bowl geared toward viewers with beginner cooking skills, while sprinkling in nutrition education. I enjoyed the collaborative experience of this project and learning about the editing and formatting process involved in producing a video for this type of presentation. It has helped me to become more comfortable with giving cooking demonstrations and I hope to do more of them in the future.
At first, I was nervous to sit down with patients and put into practice my knowledge and education. However, the more patients that I was able to see, the more my confidence grew. I was able to practice my motivational interviewing skills and I gained experience in the nutrition care process for a variety of patients. In addition, I did many group presentations in the behavioral health centers, where I developed appropriate content, activities, and handouts to support those presentations. I have loved having interactive group experiences which spark conversations with my participants. It is such a good feeling when people are receptive and genuinely interested in the topics you are presenting, and they want more information following the presentation. My favorite project so far has been my Cooking for Wellness demonstration. I recorded a demo on how to cook a butternut squash and couscous bowl geared toward viewers with beginner cooking skills, while sprinkling in nutrition education. I enjoyed the collaborative experience of this project and learning about the editing and formatting process involved in producing a video for this type of presentation. It has helped me to become more comfortable with giving cooking demonstrations and I hope to do more of them in the future.
Overall, I am loving my internship experience with Sodexo! My directors and preceptors have been flexible and supportive every step of the way, especially during the challenges of COVID. I have learned so much over these past few months from all of them. The best advice I have received is, “get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” I am grateful to all my preceptors for their time, experience, and for supporting me while I am learning. Every preceptor has their own way of doing things and I have been able to learn valuable skill sets by watching each of them and then beginning to develop my own way of working with patients. I am excited about my next rotations, which will be food service management, followed by my clinical rotations at St. Anthony’s Hospital where I will continue to learn and grow as a dietitian.
