OH BAYBEEE – We’re TWO WEEKS into clinicals !!
I already have SO many things I’d like to share with y’all.
I haven’t been posting much on IG stories. I shared a LOT from the public health/community semester with the goal of demystifying the dietetic internship, but I’m hitting pause on the excessive DI storytelling on IG stories because your girl is NOT trying to violate HIPAA. I’ll talk about my experience, but I’d never share info about my patient’s.
Like every other blog post I’ve written, I want to preface this by saying that nobody’s experience during the internship is the same. Even if you’re in the same program! The Loyola DI program isn’t concentrated in MNT ( medical nutrition therapy ), but I do get the majority of my hours in this semester and my goodness, I’ve learned SO MUCH already…
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1. Ask questions like your life depends on it
I’m not one to shy away from asking a question… Or 10. In my 300 person gen chem lecture, I’d sit in the front and ask questions. Yeah, I felt like a brown noser but who cares?? Ya gotta do what ya gotta do ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
ESPECIALLY during your first few weeks, you gotta ask questions! Of course your preceptors expect you to come prepared and recall most info from undergrad, but they understand that there is a HUGE learning curve and treating complex patients requires helluva a lot more than spitting out your MNT textbook from senior year.
Asking questions shows your preceptors that you’re engaged and critically thinking – two qualities a successful healthcare professional must possess. They want every dietetic intern who graduates from clinical rotations at their hospital to represent that hospital and the dietetics field in the best possible way. The first week is the time to ask a f-ck ton of ( appropriate, thought out ) questions – you DON’T want to wait til you’re 5 weeks in your clinical rotations to ask your preceptor why albumin is not an indicator of malnutrition.
#iykyk :’)
2. Keep a notebook on your person at all times
First, you will have questions while you’re getting oriented. Ask away and WRITE IT DOWN. Don’t be that person who asks the same question 50x. If you write it down, odds you remember it will go up AND you won’t bother your preceptor. If you forget, you can always go back to it! I write down so much and at the end of the day, I grab my pink highlighter and highlight notes that will be relevant & helpful for the following days.
Second, when you prechart, you’ll want to write down questions specific to that patient. For example, if a little girl with diabetes had sky high HgbA1C, you’d want to ask her about her knowledge of carb counting in addition to the standard q’s you’d ask during a nutrition assessment.
( hypothetical sitch btw – i don’t have rotations in peds! )
Call me Dory – I have the worst short term memory and I find this extremely helpful. I know the classic nutrition assessment questions ( n/v, appetite prior to admission, etc. etc. ) but I don’t want to forget questions that would help me chart a good note.
PS: I was HORRIBLE at writing notes and found it extremely helpful to study my preceptor’s old notes to get a better grip on the language.
3. Don’t underestimate yourself
I had literally no clinical experience prior to the internship… NADA! A common misconception many prospective interns have is that you need clinical experience to get matched. My personal statement was about my passion for the intersection of nutrition and social media/blogging & I didn’t have a speck of clinical experience on my resume. I didn’t have much confidence in my ability to be a clinical dietetic intern, but I’m not letting that excuse myself from learning.
I was surprised in my ability to adapt to this new rotation after community/public health. I’m BLESSED AF to have patient preceptors who encourage me to ask q’s and provide quick feedback ( so far…🤞🏻). If you were accepted into the internship, they accepted you for a reason – that you would be a successful intern.
4. Prep everything ahead of time
My current preceptor and I meet every morning at 7:30AM. The last thing you want to do is arrive late and make a bad first impression. The start time will vary depending on the preceptor, but I can guarantee that you won’t start much later! I wake up between 5-5:30 so I have enough time to get ready, drive, park, and walk to my preceptor’s office.
I should note that the walk from the parking garage to her office is 15-20 mins.
A successful morning requires prep ahead of time. The last thing you wanna do at 5AM is make lunch, pack your gym clothes, and figure out what to wear. This is how I prepare:
- Prep lunch for a few days – usually a HUGE salad with chicken + brown rice + roasted veggies and a bar; sometimes I prep my breakfast too
- Pack my gym bag – workout clothes, gym shoes, emergency snacks, lulu lemon scrunchy, makeup wipe remover; if I wait to go home to change for the gym, I’ll never make it to the gym
- Pick an outfit – business casual clothes + shoes + hair clip (nothing worse than having hair in your face when your hands have been around the hospital)
- Prep questions from the modules my preceptor assigned me – make sure it’s not something you can find in your textbook!
5. Connect with the online dietetic community
I’m only a couple week into this semester and I always find myself deep into clinical dietetics meme accounts. The more niche the meme, the funnier it is. Connecting with the community also helps relieve symptoms of “imposter syndrome.”
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10 days down, 50 days to go.
LMK what other questions you have about clinicals on Insta! I love talking to you humans on DM.
xx hails