Last week, I shared some unexpected dietetic internship moments. If you haven’t read part 1 of this series, you can check it out here. Now, let’s get back to some funky dietetic internship moments!
Wait…how much lemon juice are you drinking??
When taking a diet history from someone it’s always important to clarify portion sizes. You’d be surprised at how people’s portion sizes and meal compositions can differ from your own. The most interesting example I found in my internship is when someone mentioned that they regularly consume lemon juice in their water, and did I think this was bad? Now, my initial assumption was that they were just adding a little lemon juice in a glass of water, hardly noticeable, and definitely not going to be a problem. After clarifying with them, however, I quickly learned that throughout the course of the day they were consuming an entire 32oz bottle of lemon juice. In one day. It just goes to show how important taking the time to clarify is. Oftentimes, your ideas of what is “normal” or “usual” don’t line up with the people you may be working with.
Is that…a crack pipe?!
People bring lots of things into a hospital that you’d hope they’d leave at home and drug paraphernalia is high on the list. One day, while I was charting at a nursing station, security calmly exited a patient room near me holding a crack pipe. While this isn’t an uncommon occurrence, it was certainly a surprise to me at the time!
Everybody poops!
Now, I wouldn’t say this was unexpected for me, but you’d be surprised at how quickly it doesn’t faze you to talk about people’s bowel habits. You’ll get to the point where your family or friends will say something and you’ll start asking them personal questions about their poop before realizing that isn’t necessarily a “normal” thing to do. You might start out trying to more delicately address the issue by referring to “bowel movement”. However, the general public doesn’t recognize that term, so it won’t be long before you’re asking someone point blank the last time they pooped. And, you won’t even blush anymore.
Are you sure you aren’t constipated??
During one of the conversations referenced in the last section, a patient told me they hadn’t experienced constipation recently. When I asked when they last pooped, they informed me that it had been about 2 weeks since they last had a bowel movement. Now, I’m no doctor, but that sounds like constipation to me!
They look like their liver isn’t working quite right…
Again, we learn in school what jaundice looks like and how people appear yellow. For me, though, it didn’t really sink in just how pronounced this would look until I saw it in-person. When they tell you someone looks yellow when jaundiced, they aren’t kidding. It’s unmistakable, and a little unnerving at first. You just don’t expect someone to be yellow.
So there you have it, five more unexpected dietetic internship moments. As I write these, I keep remembering more ridiculous moments. Maybe I’ll have to put out a part 3 at some point…we’ll see! Which of these moments seems the most strange to you? If you’re a DI, what weird moments have you experienced?