I spent half of this week at FNCE and half continuing my rotation at WIC! If you want to know what FNCE is all about–check out my FNCE 2017 Recap post.
My week looked like this:
Monday:
Living it up at FNCE!
Tuesday:
Last day of FNCE. :( It was bittersweet that it was over and I have to go back to my regular day-to-day life where people don’t jump at the chance to give me free food…
Wednesday:
I resumed my normal internship life at WIC post-FNCE. Ironically, it was someone’s birthday today, so I got a cupcake (yum!)–I guess I’m slowly weaning off constantly being handed free food at FNCE. :P Since my preceptor was also at FNCE for the past 3 days, it took most of the morning for us to get organized and back into the swing of things. I also had to leave early (shortly after lunch) to get to my night class on time. Ultimately, today was pretty uneventful. At my night class, we worked on our group research poster–using the dietary and anthropometric data we’ve collected from the high school students over the past month or so. Then, we talked about nutrition considerations with the elderly and food assistance programs available to them like “Meals on Wheels” and congregate dining programs.
Thursday:
Today at WIC, I worked on the draft webpage for the “Infant Feeding” tab we’re creating for the site’s website. Basically, we have to write up a word doc with the information, pictures, and links we want included and then send it to the IT department. They then send us a document showing what that information will look like on the website (based on the guidelines they need to work within). Since the WIC website is on the county website, we’re pretty limited as to what changes we can make. I think we’re making improvements, however, and it’s been cool to be working on this project that’ll be available to the public for a long time to come once it’s all finished!
Friday:
My preceptor had a meeting at a different site today, so I made some revisions to the “Infant Feeding” tab. I was done with this by lunch, however, so I had to self-direct myself to figure out what else I could work on. :P This is definitely a skill that I think all interns should have: figuring out how to keep yourself busy. I’ve had some preceptors that have had a lot of work for me to do, and have kept me very busy. I’ve also had others who provide very little direction. Sometimes you have to take a peek at all those competencies we have to fulfill, figure out which ones you’re lacking in, and try to find a project to work on to meet them. I’m pretty fortunate that my rotations change so often because it gives me a ton of exposure to different areas. I’m not doing a ton of counseling here, for example, but I was counseling every day at the bariatric clinic. As long as you’re meeting your competencies, you need to be flexible with what your preceptors give (or don’t give) you to work on. I think my experience has just been kind of funny since I started off in bariatrics being insanely busy, moved to the food pantry where I was moderately busy, and am now at WIC where I’m even less busy. Never fear though, because as soon as I leave for the day, I have tons of coursework waiting for me. The joys of being a full-time intern and part-time grad student. :P
Weekend:
Spencer came from Minnesota to see me this weekend which was really nice. I guess Minnesota got snow on Friday–crazy! Friday night, we watched “Saw” and “Saw II” to get into the Halloween spirit–Spencer’s idea, not mine. I didn’t think that these movies were too scary overall, they were just gory and had a few jump-scares. On Saturday, we watched “Jigsaw” in theaters–I always love watching movies at the theater even though it’s expensive. I’m a huge fan of the recliner chairs that some theaters have now and a self-proclaimed popcorn fanatic. Saturday night, we met up with one of the interns I worked with at the food pantry and her boyfriend and went on a Halloween boat cruise on the Chicago River. It was so fun to see the Chicago skyline in all its glory, and to see everyone’s costumes. Spencer and I dressed up as Bob Ross and his artwork, respectively. We painted the shirt I wore during our weekend trip to Wisconsin while watching old Bob Ross painting videos. I was impressed that so many people knew who we were! On Sunday, we slept in and had a pretty relaxing day before Spencer had to drive back to Minnesota.
Next week, I’ll be finishing my rotation at WIC and presenting a research poster that all of us interns created. Until then!
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