Dietetic Rotations- The Intern Scoop on Clinical
Knowing what to expect with dietetic rotations can be one of the biggest stressors for future dietetic interns. While each rotation site will have it’s nuances, KBDI intern, Becca, is excited to share all about her day to day responsibilities as a dietetic intern in the clinical setting.
Rebecca is completing her dietetic rotations in the Dallas, Texas area. She was able to connect with a long-term acute care facility in her area and also had the unique opportunity to complete her clinical dietetic rotation with another intern from her cohort!
Here are Becca’s top tips for preparing for success for your clinical rotation!
1. Breakfast is Bae for all clinical interns.
Eat breakfast before anything else– even if it’s something small! Your future self will thank you. Doing so will set you up for success during your day by fueling your brain which will be working really hard to process all the medical nutrition therapy you’ll dive into.
You will also help yourself stay focused by preventing your stomach from growling too loud and distracting you. I personally like to start my day with something quick and easy like an individual greek yogurt cup with some fruit on top.
2. Embrace diversity and learn from your clinical preceptors.
Due to special circumstances, I had the privilege of working with not one but two preceptors. Peyton, my rotation buddy, and I began with Hannah (on the far right in the first picture) ; half way through our rotation, we began working with May (on the far right in the second picture). Hannah was a year out from acquiring her RDN credential and was my same age while May had been practicing as an RDN for 20 years!
They both had very different perspectives that helped create a more complete picture of aspects that are required to be a thorough and effective clinical dietitian. From this I learned the importance of celebrating the diversity between your preceptors and the reward that comes with taking tips and tricks from each one. I encourage you to do the same across all of your dietetic rotations!
3. Plan which RDN Competencies to complete at the beginning of each day.
During each rotation with KBDI, you will work on a specific curriculum that outlines activities to complete at the rotation site. The curriculum also includes resources and references to review such as the Nutrition Care Manual. This helps you meet the RDN Competencies that are required for all interns.
Planning which competencies to tackle at the start of the work day or the night before will help ensure that valuable time in the facility isn’t wasted deciding on a schedule. As a dietetic intern in the clinical setting, you’ll also be balancing the daily workflow such as charting and seeing patients with the curriculum activities. So it’s important to stay organized and efficient!
4. Take opportunities to try supplements and anything else that helps you empathize with patients.
Peyton and I had the opportunity to try thickened liquids according to IDDSI guidelines as well as nutrition supplements. It was a very eye-opening experience to see what it’s like to consume the things our patients would have to consume per our recommendations or orders from the Speech Language Pathologist.
We often take for granted how unappealing the look, texture, or taste of those foods can be but may lack patience with our patients if and when they struggle to accept them. Empathy can be built by partaking in the very things we recommend to our patients which can improve the quality of the care we give. I recommend jumping at this opportunity to become a more empathetic and thus more effective dietitian.
5. Collaborate with other interns to make clinical less overwhelming.
Lastly, the clinical rotation is notorious for being quite an information overload. While this simply reflects the beauty and vast breadth AND depth of MNT, it can be overwhelming. What helped me was having Peyton as my rotation buddy to partner. We were able to learn from each other’s strengths, help each other grow in our clinical weaknesses, and just offer each other support from a common understanding of what we were going through.
This will be key to help you thrive through clinical too. Whether you have a rotation buddy or not, you can utilize the connections you have within your program cohort and be of resource to each other.
These are just a few useful tokens I’ve collected as I’ve gone through my daily routine during my unique clinical rotation experience. I hope you can consider my tips as you go through your dietetic rotations.