Before I launch into my dietetic internship experience, I figured I should set the scene a little with how I got here in the first place. So let’s go back to the beginning and cover my dietetic experience as an undergraduate student, shall we?
Here I am with Goldy Gopher (the U of M’s mascot).
YEAR 1:
And we’re off! I knew that I wanted to go to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (or “the U” to those of us in MN) since I was a tiny kid, so when it came time that’s the one I chose. Now when you’re applying for college they make you choose a major. Well, initially, when little me wanted to go to the U, I wanted to be a veterinarian. Once I grew up I realized I would never be able to put down an animal, so that was out… We had briefly studied nutrition (for less than a week) in my high school health class and I thought it was interesting so that’s what I picked. Lucky me, I absolutely loved studying nutrition, so everything worked out!
Now, like many college students, I had to pay my own way through college, so I started working as overnight campus security less than a week into my freshman year. Bye bye sleep. (I definitely don’t recommend working an overnight job if you can help it…working until 7am and having a 9:05am chemistry class after is not a good combo—even though overnight jobs generally pay well…) As far as dietetic experience is concerned, I didn’t really get any my first year. This was because I wasn’t far enough in my education to really know what’s out there. I think this is pretty typical, however, since by the end of your first year you’ll have taken maybe one or two introductory nutrition classes (it takes a while to get all of the chemistry out of the way).
Health Advocates: “promoting healthy choices and assisting those who need help”. Plus, we got to wear this cool T-shirt. :P
YEAR 2:
My second year of college I became a “health advocate” in the university apartment I lived in. I basically provided first aid to students accidentally burning themselves trying to cook. It was peer health education experience though and I loved it. I was feeling good, and everything seemed to be working out. Then I learned about the requirements to become a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN)…Yikes.
That winter, while attending a student dietetics organization meeting, I learned about how competitive dietetic internships are. Oh, and how much work it is once you graduate undergrad to become an RDN. Cue minor panic attack. Up to this point I had basically zero dietetic work or volunteer experience. I also had negative money saved to pay for a Dietetic Internship (DI) because of all the student loans I had. In general, I had no clue how I was going to ever be able to get and pay for a DI. After freaking out for a while, I pursued the things I knew I was interested in: health education, nutrition counseling, and wellness.
Before my second year was over I was studying for the Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) Exam to gain more fitness knowledge, and was ready to shift gears on my job. I obtained my CPT credentials that summer, volunteered with WIC’s Farmers Market Program, quit working campus security and started looking for new jobs.
Our peer nutrition education group’s painted panel on the Washington Avenue Bridge on campus.
YEAR 3:
I declared two minors: Public Health and Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies. Personally, I think adding a minor is a good idea (even if employers might not care about them a lot). It allows you to take a mental break from nutrition for a class or two per semester. I also started a position as a Teaching Assistant (TA) for an online public health class. This class focused on healthy sleeping, eating and exercise behaviors and used Motivational Interviewing to encourage behavior change. My dream! On top of that, I started working as a nutrition peer health educator through my campus health center. There I got to teach cooking classes, do 1:1 nutrition counseling, give grocery store tours, plan events, and network with an RDN and a bunch of my fellow dietetics students. Things were starting to work out.
A couple months into the semester though I realized I needed another paid job (being a nutrition peer health educator was unpaid) to afford rent so I took a position as a Cook at an assisted living facility. It’s amazing how much you can cram into your schedule without really realizing just how much you’re cramming into your schedule… Over the summer I volunteered with WIC’s Farmers Market Program again (check out that link to find contact info for a WIC location that participates in the Farmers Market Program near you).
Best part of my fourth year at the U? Graduation!!
YEAR 4:
Final year: game time. I took free workshops the U’s Office of Equity and Diversity offers because I wanted to improve my cultural competency skills (such a good decision, not only because I learned important skills, but because I was asked about this in my DI interview). I learned inter-professional collaboration skills as well as part of my DPD curriculum (also asked about in my interview). And this is where things got serious. Revising your resume, researching DI programs, deciding if you want to go for your Masters at the same time, writing your personal statement, asking for references, navigating DICAS, calculating your GPA, cleaning up your social media accounts…it’s a lot.
Luckily, my program did an amazing job helping me along with this, but even with all the help I got I was overwhelmed… Fortunately, my college also had a mentor program that I took advantage of and I was matched with a recent (<5 years) grad and current RDN which was extremely helpful. She walked me through my resume, interview prep, everything. I highly recommend trying to find a mentor whether that’s a professor, campus dietitian, or someone entirely unaffiliated with your university. If you don’t know where to start—ask one of your professors for help! They have a network of dietitians they can connect you with.
After submitting DICAS I had an interview with Loyola, match day (probably the most stressful day ever) where I matched to Loyola’s DI program, and GRADUATION!!
My top 5 pieces of advice regardless of what year you’re at in your nutrition education:
- Build relationships with your professors, and work/volunteer supervisors. Not only will you need them for DICAS references, but chances are they know someone that you’d like to get to know too. Networking is extremely important!
- Get experience from as many areas of dietetics (community, clinical, food service, etc.) as you can—even if you don’t think you’ll be interested in that area! I was a cook at an assisted living facility even though I wasn’t interested in food service as a profession. I’m still not, but the panel at my DI interview asked me about this job the most!
- Find a mentor. This goes along with building relationships, but I can’t tell you how reassuring it was to have a mentor who had just gone through the whole process I was going through a few years prior. Having someone who is in the dietetics community and knows what it takes to get there helps a lot.
- Don’t discount non-dietetics experiences. Whether it’s a non-nutrition student group that you’re a part of, a job that seems completely unrelated, or workshops on things that are important in dietetics (*cough* diversity training) GET INVOLVED. There are transferable lessons and skills in anything you do—you just have to find them.
- Keep track of everything you’re doing and approximately how much time you’re spending doing them. DICAS asks about how many hours you spent at your jobs and volunteering. Trust me, this is hard to remember at the end of your education. The numbers don’t have to be perfect, but having a general idea how much time you’ve spent is really helpful. Remember that weekend you volunteered for the arthritis walk your freshman year? The summer you worked at your hometown diner? It’s hard enough to remember some of this stuff under normal levels of stress. When you’re looking at DICAS thinking “I haven’t done enough!” (we’ve all been there) they’ll be even harder to remember. Every little bit counts, so help yourself out later by keeping track now.
So, that’s an abbreviated version of my dietetics experience in my undergraduate career. My next post will cover the process of applying for a dietetic internship in more detail—until then!