You’ve done it! You’ve just gotten into the dietetic internship of your dreams and are excited to start your rotations, meet your fellow interns, and learn everything you need to know about becoming an RD.
But you may be thinking… How am I going to balance all the work and responsibilities that come with being a dietetic intern? From day one you are expected to be your biggest advocate, stay organized, and take ownership of your journey to passing the RD exam. It can all be overwhelming at times!
Don’t worry, you’ve got this! To help you on your journey to become an RD, we have put together our top tips on how to stay organized during your dietetic internship. Our tips will help even the busiest intern succeed during their dietetic rotations.
How to Prepare Before Your Internship
The weeks leading up to orientation are going to fly by, so what do you need to do during this time to prepare for your internship? Become a MASTER of organization!
- Get a planner! You NEED to have a planner. Dietetic Intern Moriah Dore says “My planner has been my lifesaver! I reference it multiple times a day to stay on top of rotation times, calls with preceptors, and assignment due dates. I even got little stickers and a colored pen to differentiate the types of appointments or assignments. It takes a lot of the stress and pressure off when I can see everything in one place. I don’t have to worry about forgetting anything!”
- Get into the habit of setting alarms and reminders on your phone- and no, not just to wake up! In the chaos of the day, it can be very hard to remember every single call, meeting, or deadline you have.
- Read over your curriculum and learning objectives, especially the CRDNs. Print them out in advance so you can check all assignments completed along the way during your rotations.
- Check out our other tips on how to prepare for your dietetic rotations.
How to Stay Organized During Your Internship
You’ve prepared for your internship as best as you can. Now what do you do once your busy schedule has begun? Dietetic Intern Brittani Rowe says you should “create a system that works for you, and stick with it! If you find that you are struggling to keep up with the work then address it immediately, you don’t want to be fumbling through the entire internship!” To help you find the system that works best for you, we have tips for the two things you will be dealing with most during your internship: assignments and meetings.
Assignments
- The first thing you should do when you get an assignment is write it down. Don’t trust yourself to remember it later… you probably won’t!
- Read over your assignments as soon as you get them. This way you can gauge how long it will take you to complete them and plan accordingly. You will also be able to ask questions and clear up any confusion early.
- Break down larger assignments into smaller due dates so they’re not as overwhelming.
- We have one last tip for completing your assignments…. DON’T PROCRASTINATE! Plan to complete your assignment 24-48 hours before the due date. You don’t want to be rushing to get everything done on the day before it’s due to find that your laptop has crashed or printer is broken.
Meetings
- Write down the dates and times of all your meetings in your planner. (Have we mentioned how important having a planner is?!) Don’t just rely on reminders in your Google Calendar.
- Set TWO reminders for meetings! Set one for the night before so you can gather up any materials or documents you will need. Then set another one for 30 minutes before your meeting. You may find yourself running around like crazy all day, and you don’t want to show up to your meeting, whether virtual or in-person, with seconds to spare! Allow yourself time to sit, prepare, and perhaps meditate so that you are ready to go.
- When possible, try to schedule out all of your meetings for a rotation in Google Calendar on day one. That way you don’t have to worry about them later.
- To help keep your schedule organized, here is some advice from our Dietetic Intern Natalya Pigulskaya that she learned from Marie Forleo “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities!”
There you have it! Those are a few few tips on how to stay organized during your dietetic internship.
Using these tried and true tips to find a system that works for you will help make your dietetic internship experience smooth and stress-free. So get to planning! You’re going to be an AMAZING RD!
Written by Olivia Laughman, B.Komplete Nutrition Marketing Assistant
I might have heard about that before! but reading it as a message from one of the program board members just motivates me to apply each an every tip!!
That is wonderful Salma!