I like to look at summer as a time of opportunity. The Friday that school ended I drove home to Northern Virginia, started an internship Monday in D.C., and Tuesday drove the other direction to orientation at my hospital. No time to lose!
This summer I am so excited to work with DC dietitian Rebecca Scritchfield who runs Elite Nutrition. I commute via public transportation (Yay eco-friendly!) to her office once a week and communicate with her the rest of the time electronically. It is amazing how much she does, from public speaking to consultations with clients, a private practice R.D. works very, very hard (Did I mention she also runs marathons? She’s Superwoman!).
My University also requires DPD students to get 100 hours of experience in a clinical setting. For part of the summer I also get to work at a nearby hospital, shadowing an R.D., working to fill out papers provided by my school’s Dietetics department. The culmination of the experience is a 10 page case study on a particular experience during the summer. This is the time when I find out if clinical dietetics is the right match for me.
I’m thrilled to be out in the ‘real world’ of dietetics. Being in a classroom takes you only so far and the rest you really learn as you go. After finishing the first segment of the Clinical Nutrition class this past semester, I feel like I’m really a dietetics student. I know what my R.D. means when she asks for a P.E.S. statement to be written, or how to change pounds to kg off the top of my head. I have never felt more at peace with where I am as a student and I’m positive Dietetics is the right match for me.
Here’s to a summer of learning!
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