Lessons Learned

You know that saying that you don't appreciate what you've got until it's gone, well it's true even when it comes to the dietetic internship. 

To be honest, I wasn't much of a fan of food service during my rotation.  It just wasn't really my thing, I couldn't see myself doing it for the rest of my life because I felt so removed from the clientele.  On top of that, my food service director was constantly busy running from one meeting to the next and dealing with one personnel issue or another.  To be fair she included me when she could and she had warned me about this up front and had told me that I would have to be really independent and self directed.  I didn't think that this would be a problem but I guess I never really knew what she thought about my work and my progress as the internship went on and that concerned me.  I would wonder if I was doing ok, if they even knew I was there or was I just the pesky intern that was in the way?

Honestly, there were days that I couldn't wait to get back to my main site with my other fellow interns.  But, today was my last day of food service and it was probably the best day of the entire rotation.  You see the pressure to perform was gone.  I had my evaluation early on in the day and it went really well.  I had a really honest, open conversation with my preceptor and she gave me a lot of complements and feedback (which I think is what I was looking for all along).  It took sitting through my evaluation to realize just how much I had learned; and it was then that I realized that most of the lessons were not from doing but rather from observing. 

After my evaluation I had an opportunity to watch one of the ladies in the office's episode on Chopped.  She was one of the contestants on the second lunch ladies challenge and it was beautiful.  She is so invested in what she does and she wants so badly to make a difference.  I'll admit it, I cried a couple of times during the episode.  I was moved.  This is why I went into this field, to educate people and to give them the tools to make healthier choices.  That's all she wanted to do, she just took a different approach in which to do it. 

This is what I love, what I crave, what I want so badly.....to be surrounded by is people who have a passion for what they do and it might have taken me until today to realize that I was surrounded by several people with this passion.  And even if their passion is not my passion I can certainly respect what they do.  Sure they might be busy, they might have hectic lives and they might not always have the time to give the eager intern with the bright ideas the kind of feedback that she would like to have but they are so invested in what they do and it's admirable. 

Several of them even made time to take me out to dinner tonight and it was great.  I didn't know how much I had connected with these people until it was time to say goodbye.  Even if I don't pursue a career in foodservice; I hope that I can stay connected and inspired by these women for a long time and I'm thankful for the opportunity to experience other areas of nutrition and dietetics and to get to interact with people who have a slight different passion than I do but who share my love for nutrition and health. 

Food Service

This week marks my last week in my school food service rotation.  I must admit that I'm ready to get back to my main site for a couple weeks of community/administration and a full week off for Christmas!  Then it's on to clinical.  I can tell that I'm changing (or maybe just adapting to reality!) already because the thought of going to my clinical rotation used to scare me.  At our clinical review session I was on the verge of tears and had to fight off having a very public meltdown.  But after food service I'm so ready for clinical. Bring it on!

You see, I've found out that food service just really isn't my thing.  I love kids and I love childhood nutrition, I also love school so by all accounts I should love food service but I don't.  I don't hate it but I've found that I'm definitely not a food service dietitian.  It's too far removed from the education piece and the client interaction. When I started this internship I really felt that I was a WIC dietitian deep down.  I think that's where my heart is but I've been trying to be open minded and to get the most from each of my experiences.  Ironically though, food service has just reminded me of how much I love the WIC population, the services the program provides and the client interaction.  Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for food service dietitians and directors and the work they do (especially given the new meal pattern requirements) but there is another side to their job that is too involved with personnel management.  My rotation is in a district with 300+ food service employees and the personnel and discipline issues have been overwhelming at times. Something is always going on at some school and the directors day is often interrupted as something comes up.  I like variety and knowing that every day is different but it weighs too heavily on me to have to constantly be writing up an employee or documenting an incident.  I just want to teach nutrition to kids and families. 

I'm glad that I had this experience and I'm glad that food service was my first outside rotation.  It was a great way to get out and experience a new side of dietetics but as I said before I'm so ready for a break (I plan to do as little as possible during my week off!) and for a new rotation.  I also miss seeing my fellow interns on a daily basis and can't wait to be back in our cubes again! :)