Assignment Title: Clinical Externship Reflections

Course: NFSC 457L Clinical Externship

Assignment Description: I completed 45+ hours of a clinical externship at Glenn Medical Center in Willows, CA. Laura Curtis, the Registered Dietitian at the hospital was who I worked under each week. Glenn Medical Center is a Critical Access Hospital within a small, rural community. As the only registered dietitian, Laura is responsible for all inpatient, outpatient and foodservice management duties required of a dietitian. I feel fortunate to have shadowed Laura, as it gave me exposure to the many roles of a dietitian in a clinical setting. During this internship I was able to observed outpatient counseling in which Laura implemented motivational interviewing throughout. I worked in the kitchen alongside dietary aides to experience tray-lines, special diet orders as well as serving the public during the busy lunch hour. I was often tasked to receive shipments for the kitchen and compare inventories. For her clinical patients, Laura allowed me to look at charts to conduct nutrition assessments and offer possible diagnoses with appropriate interventions.

What I learned:I was able to experience how the registered dietitian communicated with different populations effectively, and the barriers that are present specifically related to nutrition counseling when dealing with many clients that did not speak english or were of lower income, with little access to adequate nutrition. The smaller size of the hospital allowed me to interact with many different members of the health care team, and observe the different roles they all hold in patient care. This extern experience was eye-opening and informative. I looked forward to going to the hospital each week and appreciated being able to connect what I was learning in Medical Nutrition Therapy to my experiences at Glenn Medical Center.