Now that my dietetic internship is over, I thought it would be fun to share some of the highlights of my time as a dietetic intern. Some are specific experiences I had, while others are more general to the experiences you may have in any dietetic internship. So, without further ado, here are my top 8 favorite parts of being a dietetic intern, in no particular order:
#1 Being a dietitian…almost.
I know I said that these weren’t in any particular order, but actually getting a taste of what it’s like to be a dietitian is probably one of the best parts of being a dietetic intern. I had some experiences in undergrad where I got to do nutrition education and counseling and such, but as a dietetic intern you’re given so much more responsibility. Within my first 10 days of supervised practice I was counseling bariatric patients by myself. It’s scary and nerve-wracking, but so exciting and cool to have an opportunity like this. You have all the nutrition knowledge when you finish your undergrad, so the internship is just learning to apply these skills. You basically get to do everything the dietitians do, for the most part, but with a safety net.
#2 Learning enough to make my brain explode.
This goes along with #1; I learned SO MUCH during my dietetic internship. I had incredible preceptors who threw me into situations outside of my comfort zone. They knew I could handle it, but until you’re actually doing it there’s a strong desire to stick to what you’re comfortable with. One of the biggest things I learned during this internship was how to be more comfortable with being uncomfortable. There’s a lot to learn about the field of dietetics, and during your internship you have to wear so many hats. My dialysis rotation, for example, was only 5 days long. I had to brush up on my kidney nutrition knowledge and be able to turn around and start counseling dialysis patients within a day or two. It was overwhelming at times and stressful, but honestly one of the rotations that I feel I learned the most in. Being open to learning and having the ability to adapt quickly are definitely things you need in a dietetic internship.
#3 The other DIs.
Dietetic internships are crazy stressful and overwhelming and pretty much nobody outside of the nutrition world has any idea what you’re going through. The 10 other interns I had the privilege of completing my internship with were so vital during this process. We all brought different strengths to the table and kept each other sane during our 10 months together. I was the only intern at most of my rotations which can feel a little isolating at times. You wonder if you’re the only one struggling with certain things, and being able to talk to the other interns and share experiences was comforting. There were still times when none of us knew what was going on, but at least we were all clueless and figuring it out together. :P
#4 Helping people through nutrition.
I mean, that’s the goal, right? That’s why you study nutrition and go through the whole crazy process to become a dietitian. It is such an incredible experience though to be able to use your education to help people. There are so many examples of this during my internship I could use, but I think the ones that stick out to me the most are the diabetes diet educations I did during my clinical rotation. Despite being brief educations in an inpatient setting, it was amazing to teach patients about how food affects their blood sugar. They always had a lot of questions and it felt incredible to be able to answer these questions. It was very rewarding to help them feel more confident with their ability to manage this new diagnosis.
#5 Teaching my preceptors.
This is something I didn’t really expect to happen as often as it did. I mean, you’re the intern, so you kind of just assume you’re only going to be learning from your preceptors. And you do, but you also just finished your undergrad where you learned the latest nutrition research. Most of my preceptors have been out of school and practicing for at least a decade, and they were genuinely interested in what I had learned in undergrad. A great example of this is when I worked with a clinical dietitian who worked a lot with cancer patients. One of her patients, on long-term tube feedings, was interested in blenderized tube feeding. My preceptor had no experience or education around blenderized tube feeds, and asked me if I knew anything about them. I learned about them during my undergrad, and was able to provide her with a quick overview. She then researched them more, but was grateful that I knew something in the moment.
#6 Actually being able to put all that chemistry knowledge to good use…once.
I don’t think I’m alone in my mild contempt for chemistry–it’s really hard, okay?! And when you get your bachelor’s in nutrition you need to take a lot of it… Anyway, there’s a lot of moments when you wonder if you’re ever going to need your extensive knowledge of chemistry. I had a patient during my clinical rotation who actually asked a question I needed that chemistry knowledge to answer. He legitimately wanted to know the chemical difference between saturated and unsaturated fat. So thanks chemistry, I guess, for keeping me from embarrassing myself during this one encounter.
#7 Building relationships with other healthcare professionals.
Throughout my time as a dietetic intern I had the opportunity to work with a lot of different healthcare professionals. It was really cool to see how our jobs intersected, and how we could work together to improve patient care. It was also fun to work with and learn from students and interns in these other fields. I even taught many of them what a dietitian is and the role of a dietitian in the healthcare team.
#8 Being around people who actually understand what the process to become a dietitian is like.
As I already briefly mentioned in #3, the process to become a dietitian is weird and confusing. Even the people closest to me don’t really fully understand what this process is like for me. Being around people who are currently going through the same things I am, and working with dietitians who know what you’re going through because they did it too is so liberating. They know how hard it is, the struggles you’re going through, and many have tips and strategies that helped them. If you’re a dietetic intern, don’t be afraid to ask your preceptors about what it’s like to be a dietitian. I had the opportunity to learn a lot about their experiences finding their first job, what it’s like to do continuing education credits, etc. which was very helpful. I mean, let’s face it, it’s refreshing to be around people who know what a “dietitian” is. :P
And there you have it, “the great eight” highlights of my dietetic internship experience. If you are/were a dietetic intern, what are/were your highlights?