Featured Intern: Inside Scoop from the Clinical Rotation

I am about halfway through my clinical rotation at Grady hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Like I said before, this is the hospital known for treating unexpected cases like people who have been found in a ditch or have gunshot wounds. Here is what I have learned so far:

First, my preceptor taught me an important lesson: As a dietetic intern, we are not there to get the job done quickly and efficiently like a hired RD. Rather, as interns we are there to learn as much as we can and take our time. I just hope everyone gets the opportunity to have a preceptor like this who appreciates the point of learning.

Second important lesson: you can not give a renal patient a low fat diet—they need calories from somewhere. You will get these patients with multiple diagnoses, and think to yourself, “ok, they need a renal diet for their kidney disease, they need lower consistent carbohydrates for their diabetes, they need low sodium for their hypertension, and they need low fat for their high triglycerides and cholesterol… oh yes, and they need a mechanical soft diet and a supplement”. You have to prioritize, and realize the more severe life threatening problems. And yes, sometimes it takes me three hours to assess a patient like this and write a note in their chart.

Third, it is important to be able to receive criticism (especially for those of us who are perfectionists). I thought I was able to, but I guess you never really know until it happens. One day, I missed noting the past medical history from a patient’s chart—I just never saw it in the chart with all the jumbled up scribble handwriting. My preceptor pointed out my mistake and I felt horrible, because I just didn’t want to make mistakes. I didn’t want her to think I was a slacker; it’s hard to read charts in a new facility. I mean, we all want our preceptors to think we are these amazingly intelligent superstar wannabe dietitians, right?

So far I have come across many strange cases that I probably shouldn’t share because of HIPAA rights. The issues that these people come to the hospital for make me realize my life is not so crazy after all.