Virginia State University Dietetic Internship Newsletter · 2015-07-30 · of dietetics. The research emphasis will allow you to sharpen your critical thinking skills whether you

Virginia State University Dietetic Internship Newsletter

In This Issue:

Page 1 Greetings

Page 2–5 Class 22

Page 5 Rotations

Page 7 Research

Page 8 Assignments

& Activities

Page 9-10 Tips &

Resources

Class 22 interns at VSU Randolph Farm

Congratulations Class 23!

Congratulations on being matched to the Virginia State Dietetic In-

ternship ! You have worked so hard to get to this point and now you

are ready to embark on a new journey in your pursuit to become a

Registered Dietitian. Be excited! No more looking at DICAS, no

more stressing to make sure all of our references are in. You made it!

The VSU Dietetic Internship will allow you to tie everything you have

learned together by gaining experience in many facets in the field

of dietetics. The research emphasis will allow you to sharpen your

critical thinking skills whether you are in the lab for your research

rotation or completing a weekly assignment with a research article

summary. As the summer is approaching as well as orientation ,

remember to get those study guides completed early, stay orga-

nized, ask questions, get to know one another, and be ready to learn

life long lessons while enjoying the internship at the same time. On

behalf of the class 22 interns again I say, congrats!

Class 22 Newsletter April 2015

Class 22 interns at Swaders Park

Meet Class 22 Interns

My name is Anna Shannon and I am from Williamsburg, VA. I went to Virginia Tech for my Undergrad. I worked as an intern for the Family Nutrition Program where I gave nutrition lessons to 450 students ages 5-12 in inner city Richmond and audited summer feeding programs through the Virginia Department of Health. I also spent a month living in Nicaragua and volunteering at a health clinic/feeding program for children living in pov-erty. My favorite rotation has been my clinical rota-tions. I envision myself working in a clinical setting such as a hospital. I preferably would like to work in the ICU and/or with patients needing nutrition support. Com-pleting a dietetic internship is worth it! Some rotations you might not like and some rotations you will abso-lutely love. The internship experience is what you make it to be. Stay positive, always try to learn something new, form relationships with your preceptors, don't be afraid to ask questions, and look for the good in every situation!

My name is Olivia Allen and I am from Cleveland Ohio. I completed my undergraduate studies at Mi-ami University where I received my Bachelor of Sci-ence in Kinesiology and Health along with a minor in Business Management and Leadership. As an un-dergrad I was a member of the Chi Omega sorori-ty and the MU Student Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics My favorite rotations this far in my internship have been my clinical rotations and my school food service rotation. I am very excit-ed for my up and coming summation rotation where I will be working with a group of dietitians who work on nutrition related public policy issues at our nation's capital. Upon completing my internship I will be searching for a job in Washington D.C area. A fun fact about myself is that I am getting married this year in August! My advice to future inters is to always have an open mind, stay organized and nev-er forget your calculator!

Meet the Class 22 Interns

Hello! My name is Teara Hairston and I am from Woodbridge Virginia. I completed my undergradu-ate studies at James Madison University. I am really interested in diabetes management, geriatrics, and food related to the culinary arts. Rotations that I have enjoyed thus far have been geriatrics, renal, clinical, and diabetes. I have honestly loved every single one of my rotations that I have completed thus far because I have learned so much from the rotations and my great preceptors! My advice to future interns would be to stay organized, be sure to not get overwhelmed, take as much information in as you can, and have fun while doing so!

My name is Lanita Benjamin and I am from Norfolk, VA. I completed my B.S. in Biology at Virginia State Universi-ty 2010 and completed the didactic program in Dietetics at Virginia State University 2013.So far my favorite rota-tion is school food service, but it might change as I get further into my clinical rotations :) (I am low key excited for geriatrics and renal) My advice to give you is always smile!!, do not be afraid to ask questions, learn as much as you can, try to visit other dietetic internship sites to help you narrow down your choices, and HAVE FUN. VSU is the greatest dietetic internship around!

Meet the Class 22 Interns

My name is Simone Hairston and I am from Summit, NJ. I went to North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, NC. I volun-teered at East Orange General Hospital the summer before senior year in undergrad to get a better idea of what the Dietitians on staff there did. My favorite rotation thus far was clinical because I learned so much and saw so many different things while I was there! If there was any advice I could give to the fu-ture interns it would be invest in a life planner one where you can keep all your dates in or-der because there are so many different dates to keep track of its much easier to write them all down and keep them in your phone as a back-up plan. Also, keep an open relationship with your preceptors and make sure you’re always asking if there are ways you can im-prove. Living in Petersburg isn’t nearly as bad as people make it out to be so if you choose to live here don’t be intimidated.

Hi, my name is Sarah Johnson and I am from Virginia Beach, VA. I completed my Under-graduate degree in Dietetics at James Madi-son University in 2014. Prior to the internship, I volunteered at Sentara hospitals in Virginia Beach to gain clinical and food service expe-rience. I also volunteered at the local Harri-sonburg WIC clinic during my senior year at JMU. My favorite rotations thus far have been my inpatient clinical rotations and my outpatient diabetes rotation, because I learned so much and enjoyed the nutrition education and counseling components. My advice to the future interns is to get to know your preceptors, keep building a network of connections, and don’t be afraid to go out-side your comfort zone! Have fun, work hard, learn a ton, and keep on top of all your as-signments, because the internship will fly by!

I'm Ivy! I'm from Duluth, Minnesota. I got my bachelor's degree from Minnesota State Univer-sity, Mankato. I love photography, dancing, baking, and traveling! I hope to practice clinical dietetics, either inpatient or out-patient counsel-ing. This internship has brought me so many new adventures, new friends, and further inspiration. It is a wonderful program and experience! Soak it all in, and enjoy very moment! :)

Meet the Class 22 Interns

My name is Stephanie Davis and I am from Richmond VA. I attended Virginia State Univer-sity for my undergrad. During my undergrad, I worked at MCV under a dietitian and also be-fore this internship, I worked during my junior and senior year doing research in food pro-cessing and engineering at VSU. I also did vol-unteer work throughout my college experience in the Petersburg and Richmond area. My fa-vorite rotations thus far have been WIC, be-cause I love interacting with people and one on one counseling! Food service and research was fun because it gave me a chance to work close-ly with fellow interns and get to know them better. The best advice I can give to future in-terns would be to be positive, have fun with every rotation, and learn as much as you can! Don’t be scared to ask questions get to know the people you are working with.

Clinical 1: (5 weeks) In this rotation you will begin learning the fundamentals of clinical dietetic inpatient practice. You will learn how to screen, assign nutrition risk, counsel, educate, and chart on uncomplicated patients with the supervision of your pre-ceptors. Clinical 2: (5 weeks) During this continued clinical rotation you will start working more independently and see more complicated patients. You will gain experience in calculating enteral and parenteral nutrition feeds. During the last week of Clinical 2, you will perform staff relief at the facility. Advanced Clinical: (5 weeks) In the Advanced Clinical rotation, the Internship Director will assign you to specialty locations, such as Renal, Diabe-tes, Pediatrics, Geriatrics, etc. Each year is different, but this past year our class focused on Renal, Diabetes, and Geriatrics. Research: (9 weeks) During this rotation you will get the opportunity to be a part of a research study. Most interns will work with the Virginia State University Agriculture Department, conducting experiments with plants from the university’s farm. At the end of the rotation, each intern will write a research paper and abstract that will be presented at the VAND conference. Food Service 1: (2 weeks) For this rotation, you will work with the VSU Dining Hall staff to learn about college food service operations, foodser-vice management, catering, HACCP control, purchasing, cost analysis, and many other foodservice essentials! Food Service 2: (5 weeks) The Food Service 2 rotation takes place in a hospital setting, where you will learn general foodservice operations and how it relates to patient care, patient satisfaction, and food production for hospitalized patients and their families. School Food Service: (2 weeks) In the school foodservice rotation you will gain valuable experience participating in federal and state programs such as the National School Lunch Program for elementary school kids. Public Health: WIC (2 weeks) The public health rotation takes place at a WIC clinic, which is a federally funded program that provides food assis-tance and nutrition education to women, infants, and children. You will get to help lots of cute babies and kids! Farm to Table: (3 weeks) Virginia State University Randolph Farm, and the Community During this rotation, you will learn about the farm to table process, including farming, food production, food distribu-tion, marketing, and sales. Most of your time is spent on VSU’s farm, but other days you will work at local farmers mar-kets throughout the community. Community Service: (15 hours) Serve your community in a variety of ways such as volunteering at food banks, teaching nutrition education classes at nursing homes, participating in your community’s race, etc. At least 15 hours must be completed before graduation. Summation: (2 weeks) This is your chance to set up a rotation in an area of Dietetics that interests you. Past interns have chosen to spend their time focusing on sports nutrition, pediatrics, grocery stores, etc. Make-up Week: (1 week) This week allows you to make up any time that you missed during the Internship.

A Glance Inside the Rotations

Research Concentration

Without research, where would the field of dietetics be? Being in a research based prac-tice, it is very important to keep up to date with current information. The research rota-tion which is 9 weeks will allow you to sharpen your analytical skills, allow you collabo-rate with another fellow interns as well as teach you great lab techniques. Class 22 was unique with 4 different concentrations. 4 out of 8 interns worked in Food Processing and Nutrition Research of edamame vegetable soybeans. The team researched the changes in physiochemical, nutritional, and anti-nutrition during different developmental stages of vegetable soybeans and also determined the best sanitizing treatment to reduce the amount of microbial activity. They went on further and measured the optimal temper-ature at which edamame should be placed to maintain color and freshness. The remain-ing interns tested the physical and anti-nutritional properties of chickpea varieties and the processing effects and also conducted secondary data analysis from data collected on the campus of VSU. They examined the impact of health awareness as it pertains to food group knowledge and intake in the African American college student populations. What is very exciting is that the research you conduct during your rotation may be pub-lished in a research article after it is completed! Be sure to review the research articles, methods, and protocols given by your preceptor to grasp the concept of the research and get an understanding of what your results mean. Don’t be scared to make a mistake, ask questions, and have fun!

Assignments & Activities

You will have quite a bit of assignments to complete during the internship. But, no worries! You have gotten this far for a reason. There will be weekly assignments for food service and clinical along with three big assignments which include a clinical case study, a food service case study, and a semi-nar paper. This may sound overwhelming but, as long as you stay organized and think ahead, they will be a piece of cake I promise.

During the internship you will go on quite a few field trips. These field trips will teach you more about the field of dietetics and the role of RD’s in various places such as MCV, VA State Fair, Martin's grocery store, and Rehab centers to just name a few. You will also attend local/state meetings such as VAND or VASPEN and present your research findings from your research rotation. This is a great chance to network and meet other Dietitians in the area. If you are able to attend FNCE, it also highly recommended. It will allow you to have a chance to stay up to date with current research within the dietetics practice.

As the date to when the internship starts gets closer, we know it can be somewhat stressful to find housing if you do not already live in the area. However, there are many places to live which can in-clude Richmond, Hopewell, Dinwiddie County, Colonial Heights, Chesterfield County, and of course Pe-tersburg! Petersburg, Virginia is located on the Appomattox River and is approximately 23 miles south of the state’s capital, Richmond. Old town Petersburg continues to undergo renovation and has several his-torical sites to visit. You can find many intriguing and entertaining things to do throughout the city of Petersburg and its surrounding areas. Try these!

Places to Live

Restaurants & Bars

Taps Bar & Grill

Roxc’s Steakhouse & Lounge

The Tobacco Company

Off the Hookah

Avalon restaurant and Bar

The Well

Aurora

Check out great places to live!

Addison Crater Woods, Petersburg, VA

Acqua Luxury Apartments, Petersburg, VA

Star Lofts, Petersburg, VA

Mayton Transer Lofts, Petersburg, VA

Ashton Creek , Chester, VA

Clearfield Apartments, Colonial Heights, VA

Link Apartments Manchester, Richmond, VA

Special Events

Open Mic Night at Sonny’s

Mardi Gras RVA Parade & Cele-

bration

Richmond International film

festival

Richmond Food tours

Virginia Wine Expo

Art & Music

National Museum of the

Civil War Soldier

Virginia Fine Arts Museum

Richmond Coliseum

Science Museum of Virginia

Richmond Symphony

Chesterfield Center for Arts

Downtown Richmond

Downtown Petersburg

Tips & Resources

Are you ready? Here are some things that you can do to prepare yourself before the start of the internship:

Organization

Create a to-do list or make notes in your calendar of the required paper work, study guides and their due dates!

Schedule all appointments (doctor, dental) accordingly, background checks Organization is key when it comes to your success in the internship

Remember what you are working toward…

The internship requires commitment and dedication Get ready for 11 months of experience & learning Maintain your determination throughout the internship, working hard on assignments and at

rotation sights Continuously study for the RD exam!

Finances

SAVE: Interns are not eligible to receive financial aid, start saving money toward tuition and expenses

While it is difficult, it is possible to work part-time during the internship Some rotation sites are nearby, while others may require a long commute, prepare ahead of

time and stay organized to manage your fuel Save on fuel and expenses by living with a family member or carpooling with other interns

Keep in touch with Interns!

No one understands your journey better than your fellow interns! Be a support system for one another by offering advice on how to succeed! Maintain relationships by bonding on trips, at rotation sites, in class, and at special events!

Class 22 would be happy to answer any ques-

tions that you may have!

Simone Hairston [email protected] Sarah Johnson [email protected] Lanita Benjamin [email protected] Ivy Hakala [email protected] Teara Hairston [email protected] Olivia Allen [email protected] Anna Shannon [email protected] Stephanie Davis [email protected]

Virginia State University Dietetic Internship

Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

PO Box 9211. Petersburg, VA 23806

(804) 524-5729