Below you will find samples of my work completed during the rotations of my internship through Sodexo Dietetic Internships. Being a part of the distance internship class allowed me to gain experience in a number of amazing locations all around the world! I began my journey at home in Seattle, completing my Food Service Management and Long Term Care rotations, before heading to Boston for my Clinical, Patient Services, and Clinical Nutrition Management rotations. After this, I was able to jet off to Bali, Indonesia with two fellow interns to complete some Community hours on the beautiful, big island. Unfortunately our time there was cut short, but I was able to finish up my internship upon my return home, completing my Concentration rotation and the remainder of my Community rotation online. It has been a winding, memorable, and knowledge-building journey, of which I have loved every second. To visit the Sodexo Dietetic Internships website, please click on the logo above.
Clinical Rotation
I had the opportunity to complete my Clinical rotation, along with my Patient Services and Clinical Nutrition Management rotations, at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital in Boston, MA. BWFH is non-profit, community teaching hospital nestled just outside of downtown Boston in the historic Jamaica Plain neighborhood. It was during my time there that I truly found my passion for digestive health and the way that our GI tract interacts with the rest of our body. That is why, as you will see, many of my projects circle around this idea! My preceptors at this location were some of the best mentors I have encountered in my life and really encouraged me to find what drives me in this career. Especially being alone in a new city, it was so nice to have a sense of support and some friendly faces to see every morning! I appreciate the time I was able to spend in the hospital so much, working with patients from all walks of life, with conditions from COPD to schizophrenia. It was truly a life-changing experience! Below you will find my final Professional Research Presentation I gave at the end of my time at BWFH, both the paper and powerpoint. The title is “The Microbiome-Gut-Brain Axis and Probiotics Supplementation: Implications for Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease,” and was such an interesting topic to research. Following that I have included one of the many clinical assignments we are asked to complete during the Clinical rotations. I have often struggled with parenteral feeding calculations in the past, so finally gaining a good understanding after completing this assignment meant a lot to me, and has made the information stick with me since!
For my Food Service Management rotation, I was lucky enough to be placed at Café Mario, the cafeteria at Nintendo of America headquarters! To say this was a fun place to work would be an understatement (I mean, I got to see the Mario Museum daily!). I got to learn all facets of the food service industry, from menu planning to financials to getting to cook in the kitchen. The management and staff there were incredible and so welcoming, and I even got my own Nintendo-themed nickname! Being able to get really hands on in this rotation really drove home for me the importance in learning all we do about food service safety and management. I really felt like part of an awesome team throughout, and will be forever thankful that my first internship rotation was such an uplifting and encouraging experience. Below are the smoothie recipe cards I created to hand out at my Retail Marketing and Wellness event in the cafeteria, where I planned and executed a smoothie making bar for the morning breakfast rush, after many customers had been asking for something more fresh than the usual breakfast sandwich. It was a hit! The revenue from breakfast that morning far exceeded the weeks prior, and even the President of the company came down to try a smoothie - such a compliment!
Retail Marketing and Wellness Project
Community Rotation
I love working in the community and have always enjoyed the camaraderie that comes from working hard together for a good cause. During this rotation I was able to work at a number of wonderful locations, from a mobile farmer’s market to international teaching programs! The breadth of experiences you can have when working with the community is never-ending. During this rotation I was also asked to complete a number of community presentations, each focused on a different age group, as the way we communicate information will change depending on the age of the audience. Below are the visuals from two of the presentations I gave, one to adults on the basics of maintaining gut health, and the other for seniors speaking about the importance of proper sleep as we age and how to support that nutritionally. For someone with a bit of a public speaking fear, these presentations helped so much in getting me more comfortable in front of an audience. Everywhere I volunteered during this time was inviting and seemed so happy to have the help - I look forward to continuing to work with many of the organizations in the future!
Leadership Concentration Rotation
My Concentration in Leadership lead me to start thinking about private practice and entrepreneurship, as I think having a working knowledge of business ownership and the many things that go into it is important for any professional! I was able to link up online with Lindsey McCoy of Crave Nutrition RD, LLC, and together we worked on a few projects that I could use if I ever decided to pursue private practice in the future. During this rotation we spoke about everything from the ethics of social media to proper insurance billing to marketing techniques. It was a short but sweet rotation that I completed virtually through many Zoom meetings, video messages, and an online portal to work on assignments. It really could not have turned out any better, especially during this hectic time of staying at home! Below is one of the marketing materials I created while working with Lindsey, a lead magnet to use as an email sign-up persuasion, as we discussed this to be the most vital way to advertise your services to future potential clients - your email list is everything! I learned so much from Lindsey as a preceptor, and made a great new friend in the process.
