Internship Update: 3 down, 1 to go!

For those of you who are interested, here is an internship update. I finished 15 weeks with Chandler Unified School District in December. I had such a great experience there, doing menu planning, recipe standardization, kitchen design, and teaching more nutrition lessons than I can count.

I guess they liked me too, because they offered me a job during the break I am currently in, waiting for my clinical rotation to start. I am working and getting paid (it has been a long time since I got a paycheck) and having so much fun. I love child nutrition!

I took a 2 week break from my job to complete my Long Term Care clinical rotation at the Beatitudes Campus in Phoenix. They have hundreds of independent senior living apartments, a large assisted living facility and a health care center with 3 floors of residents. There is a floor for rehabilitation and recovery (from surgery, a bad fall, etc), another floor with early memory support, and finally a floor with advanced memory support. I had an amazing time working with the residents on the memory support floors. It is humbling to serve those residents and make sure that they are eating so that they can have the best quality of life possible.

I learned so many things about caring for the elderly in this rotation. I enjoyed associating with them, even those residents who can't speak or carry on a conversation. I enjoyed seeing their smiles and them waving at me every day when I would come up to their floor. I loved serving them during meal times and helping them when needed. I was inspired by their positive attitudes, despite the daily struggles associated with Alzheimer's Disease and other memory-loss situations.  I loved offering support when residents were troubled or upset about something, usually related to their inability to understand what reality is. 

Those 2 weeks flew by and now I am back with Chandler Schools. I'm working in the different schools at lunch time, doing various projects, and now I'm trying to set up a system for recycling food waste in the district, with a company who takes food waste and turns it into fertilizer.

That's what I'll be doing until the end of March when my 11 week in-patient clinical rotation starts at a hospital just down the road. I am so close to being done! One more rotation to complete, the RD exam to pass and I will be Heather Boyle, RD.

I Love Dietetics

On September 24th I went to Arizona's School Nutrition Association conference. I learned more about MyPlate and how to incorporate it with MyPyramid in teaching. I also went to a class for managers about conflict resolution. I am loving food service more and more! Oh and the food show wasn't so bad either. Check out my SWAG!

Robby was so excited about all of the snacks I brought home. We are set for quite a while! Well, until the food show I'm going to next week. Did I say that I love dietetics?

Counting my many blessings

Sometimes good things happen and today I can't help but be so grateful for all I have been given. Here is a little story about my life for the past 2 months or so. On March 28th, Robby and I made the decision to go to Mesa, AZ for his job. On April 3, I found out that I was matched to the Utah State University Dietetic Internship, after submitting my application on Feb 15th. It was a long, stressful 2 months of waiting and wondering where our lives would be headed. So, after I accepted the placement to USU's internship, I realized that I needed to start finding preceptors (dietitians in the Mesa area to train me as I complete my rotations in their facilities).

So, on April 3rd I hit the ground running. I began searching for hospitals, WIC clinics, school districts, assisted living facilities...etc, in the Phoenix area. I was making phone call after phone call, and countless emails.  It was the final semester of my senior year, graduation was coming up and I was trying to get ready to move to a completely new place. I was stressed out, to say the least. Being a very type A personality, I thrive on having a plan...knowing what I am doing. Having this uncertainty about my internship plans absolutely drove me crazy. I have never been more stressed out. Luckily I have a supportive husband, family and a loving Heavenly Father who all know what I need.

I was able to find a clinical preceptor at  Cardon Children's Medical Center here in Mesa, my foodservice preceptor at Chandler Unified School District, and my community preceptor at WIC here in the area. The last thing I needed was a preceptor for my 2 week long term care rotation, at an assisted living facility or nursing home. I made so many contacts, and unfortunately, none of the facilities I found were able to take on any more interns or they simply didn't have a registered dietitian on staff. This was the last piece I needed for my internship to be complete and it was taking forever to work out.

Well, today I found my preceptor. I feel so relieved and happy and excited! I will be at an assisted living facility in Phoenix, with an awesome RD who has been so helpful! I realized today that I needed to try and fail and try and fail over and over and over again to learn my lesson. Good things happen and the Lord will provide a way to get you what you need. It just doesn't happen on my timetable. Exercising my faith was exactly what I needed at this time. Robby and I have been so blessed in the last few months and so much has fallen into place for us. I needed to be reminded that I always need to rely on the Lord because not everything will work out exactly when I expect it to. What a fabulous reminder.

I am so excited for my internship to start and to be able to learn and grow as I practice all the many things I have learned for the past 4 years. I can't wait to start making a difference and helping people be healthy and happy. Soon to be Heather Boyle, RD...I can't wait!!