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Coloradans in Action: Highlights from the Annual Nutrition Conference
Ever wonder what a group of registered dietitian nutritionists talk about when we get together? The answer might surprise you. We are far less focused on “eating clean” or following rigid diet rules than our title might suggest. Instead, we are busy running businesses, advancing public policy, and working to keep consumers safe. Read along as I recap some of the highlights and key takeaways from the Colorado Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Annual Conference.
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Life After My Dietetic Internship
My journey to become a registered dietitian has come to an end. I’ve obtained a bachelor of science in nutrition, completed an accredited dietetic internship, passed my registration exam, and started work as an outpatient registered dietitian. So now what?
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Week 25: Internship Graduation!
I did it! I successfully completed my dietetic internship! Those 1250 hours just flew right by! It was bitter-sweet to part with preceptors i’ve grown found of, but it’s time for this little birdie to leave the nest.
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Weeks 23-24: Accepting Criticism with Grace
Let’s face it, criticism can be challenging to accept. To a perfectionist – it’s a bullet to heart. But without constructive criticism, there is no motivation for growth, adaptation, or development of our ‘best professional self.’
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Weeks 19-22: Clinical Inpatient
The role of the Registered Dietitian in the clinical inpatient setting was a total mystery me to me prior to starting rotations at the hospital. I knew the focus was acute care coupled with some tube feed calculations, but I didn’t really understand the workflow. After completing week 4 (of 7) at the hospital, I am happy to say I’ve finally gotten into the swing of things!
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Week 18: RD Exam Prep
With less than seven weeks left of rotations, we’ve been encouraged by our internship director to design and implement an RD Exam study schedule. The RD Exam is the last step in becoming a credentialed registered dietitian.
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Weeks 15-17: Entrepreneurialism
Weeks 15 + 16 as a dietetic intern with Iowa State University.
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Week 14: Renal Care and Dialysis
People don’t usually think about their kidneys. Generally speaking, the kidneys and how they work are a mystery to many of us. We know we have two, although one is all that is needed to live a healthy life. Kidney disease is gradual but kidney failure can be traumatic, especially when it involves “the BigD.”
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Weeks 11-13: Narrowing my Niche
Week thirteen marks the halfway point in my dietetic internship! It’s bizarre to think I have been completing rotations for over three months. Lately, I have been contemplating the answer to a question I am asked frequently – “what area of dietetics do you plan to work in?”
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Week 10: Bariatrics
Bariatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the causes, prevention, and treatment of obesity. Although diet and exercise are the first-line treatment, medical therapy for severe obesity has limited success. Weight loss surgery generally yields greater weight loss, improvements in quality of life, and decrease in obesity related disease.
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Week 9: The Comprehensive NCP
I’ve finished my first week in clinical! My focus this week was to acclimate to the clinical setting, brush-up on disease states, and practice the NCP (Nutrition Care Process).
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Week 8: The 3-Step Counseling Strategy
The 3-step counseling strategy was developed to help WIC staff and health care workers promote positive health practices.
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Week 7: Women, Infants, and Children
“The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides Federal grants to States for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk.”
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Week 6: Food Service Wrap-Up
Good-bye hairnets, chef coats, and 5am wake-up calls. I’ve finished 250 hours of food service management!
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Week 5: School Nutrition
School lunches have come a long way since their birth at the turn of the nineteenth century.
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Week 4: Emotional Intelligence
Week 4 of 25 as a dietetic intern with Iowa State University
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Week 3: Perfecting the Purée
Week 3 of 25 as a dietetic internship with Iowa State University.
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Week 2: Food Service Management in Long-Term Care
Week 2 of 25 as a Dietetic Intern with Iowa State University
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Week 1: Orientation
Week 1 as a Dietetic Intern with Iowa State University
