This week I finished my rotation at the food pantry, presented my calcium lesson at Lunch Bunch, and attended a seminar about the microbiome.
To catch up with my previous food pantry experience, check out:
DI: Week 4 – Research, Bariatrics, and Food Pantry Fun
DI: Week 5 – Wellness Committee, Food Pantry, and a Seminar
DI: Week 6 – Research, Food Pantry, and Lunch Bunch (<–you can read about my previous Lunch Bunch experience here too)
My week looked like this:
Monday:
I had the day off because of Columbus Day, so I took advantage of this opportunity to study for my exam on Wednesday. It was nice to have an extra day off, especially since I was at the food pantry on Saturday.
Tuesday:
Today was our second Cooking Matters class at the food pantry. We also added a new Loyola intern to the mix, so now there’s four of us DIs at the food pantry! We had about eight participants this week; three of them were at the class last week as well. One of the other interns started the class by talking about dried, frozen, canned and fresh fruits and vegetables and the pros and cons of each. Then, we all headed to the kitchen to make crunchy fish tacos, cabbage slaw, and mango salsa. The chef wasn’t able to make it to this week’s session, so our preceptor (the dietitian at the pantry) covered the cooking education.
While the food was cooking, I taught the participants about fiber and its effects on heart health. Then, yet another intern, talked about whole grains before we all sat down to eat together. While everyone was eating, I taught them about the DASH eating pattern and answered any questions they had. For those who may be less familiar, DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) is an eating pattern that focuses on: less sugar, saturated fat, and sodium, portion control, and increased fruit, vegetable, and whole grain consumption. It was really fun to be able to do more of the nutrition education at this class than I did last week!
Wednesday:
Today, I presented my calcium lesson to high schoolers for Lunch Bunch! The first couple of groups were freshmen, so they were a bit more rowdy and distracted. The next four lunch periods went much better. The kids know a lot more about nutrition than I was expecting which makes my job a lot easier trying to teach them about calcium and bone health. We made a black bean taco salad for them to eat, and the kids loved the honey lime vinaigrette dressing.
After Lunch Bunch, I was off to my night class for our first exam. It was open note and open book, which honestly makes me more nervous than exams that are closed book. It just provides an opportunity for professors to ask more detailed and complicated questions. Plus, they’re harder to study for, in my opinion. This exam was pretty tough; we had to reference our readings for every question which made it take a while to get through. I did pretty well on it, though, so that’s all that really matters!
Thursday:
It was my last day at the food pantry which was pretty sad. Just like my last rotation at the bariatric clinic, I had a great time at this rotation, and could see myself working in this kind of setting again. I helped do the costing for our Cooking Matters class this week, where we add up how much money we spent on all of the recipes we made. Then, I showed the new intern how to use the copier. All of us helped unload another delivery from the Greater Chicago Food Depository in the afternoon.
My preceptor also gave me some excellent parting advice: negotiate with your future boss to have some of your continuing education and licensing fees included in your benefits package, and join a Dietetic Practice Group in addition to being a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Deciding which practice groups to join is going to be tough for me–they all sound so interesting!
Friday:
Today was our second seminar with all of the Chicago-area dietetic interns. This seminar was hosted by the University of Illinois-Chicago, and was about the microbiome. It was an interesting seminar because the microbiome and its impact on overall health is such a hot topic right now. We learned about probiotics and their role in treating various gut issues, and how important prebiotics are for overall health. The seminar was only three hours long, I felt like we could’ve talked about the microbiome all day–there’s just so much new research! After the seminar, I drove to Lake Geneva to meet up with Spencer for our 3-year anniversary trip. Lucky for me, Lake Geneva is only about a two-hour drive from Chicago, Spencer had about a five-hour drive…
Weekend:
It was a pretty rainy weekend which was a bummer, but overall we had a nice and relaxing time. We ate at a local pizza joint, the Next Door Pub and Pizzeria, Friday night which was pretty busy, but well worth it–I would definitely recommend it if you’re in the area! Since the weather wasn’t the best, we spent a lot of time indoors playing cards and enjoying the fireplace. On Sunday, we went to the Apple Barn Orchard and Winery and enjoyed a wine tasting and walking around the orchard. It was a much-needed, relaxing and fun weekend getaway!
Next week, I’ll be starting a new rotation at WIC–until then!