Adventure's of an Intern

As most of you know, I am currently in an unpaid dietetic internship that consists of a minimum 1200 hours of supervised practice. Upon completion, I will be eligible to sit for the RD exam. This exam is what enables me to become a  Registered Dietitian and Licensed Nutritionist. Here is just a snapshot of a few things I have done recently during the past month.

The new year began in Gainesville at the University of Florida working in the pediatric pulmonary unit and sleep clinic for two weeks.We had to relocate for this trip since this is over two hours away from where we live. This was a great exposure to specialty cases and fun change of scenery.

I had the privilege to immerse in a week at a diabetes center at University of South Florida. I have a new found love for Diabetes and I look forward to continuing refining my skill. At the end of the week, I did a cooking/teaching demo for the med-students regarding a diabetic diet and carbohydrate counting.

As a group, we were able to tour the Publix Dairy Plant in Lakeland, Florida. What an amazing experience to see the entire process from start to finish in the production of milk, ice cream, yogurt, cottage cheese, cream, and purified water. We were able to meet with the Food Scientist and Registered Dietitian and pick their brains for an entire morning. The final bonus was tasting the freshly made ice cream.

Our most recent adventure was a trip to the state capital in Tallahasse. In the morning we attended a public policy workshop with the Florida Dietetic Association. In the afternoon, we met with our legislators to advocate continued protection for the law regulating licensed Registered Dietitian's in Florida. Protecting our credentials and educating the public on who the experts are is essential to protect the health of the public (you!) from nutrition related health fraud. The 8 hour round-trip car ride together and literally running through the capital building was a lot of fun and a once in a lifetime experience.

Before

After