Today has been so productive, seriously. I worked on homework/internship stuff from 10am until about 5pm. Two case studies, my final project that I already presented, summaries from the book and all of my evaluations due for the end of Clinical… I spent a solid 45 minutes just scanning paperwork into PDF docs and e-mailing them to my program coordinator.
I must say, it’s been a surprisingly bittersweet end to Clinical. A huge weight has been lifted and I’m so relieved to have it behind me, but I was very lucky to have had such a good experience (all things considered). I learned so much, even if some days felt like a waste of my time. A huge hospital that provided me with exposure to just about everything you can imagine made it hard not to learn… along with some pretty great dietitians to shadow and add to my list of references. It all made for a positive experience overall.
On Friday when I went in for my last day, I brought each of the dietitians a personalized coffee mug filled with Dove chocolates. I just went out to Target and bought cheap, colorful mugs and wrote on them with a black porcelain pen. Then after baking them, they were done! Easy huh? I’m so cheesy sometimes I can’t handle myself. They also had a little gift for me, a Starbucks gift card, little stationary notebooks and a glass canister set for my kitchen. Seems random, but they knew that I would be moving apartments soon and had mentioned the need for more kitchen nick-knacks. Again, so cheesy I can’t handle myself.
With the end of Clinical comes the beginning of Community. I begged and pleaded for placement at an eating disorder place, and it paid off… I got in! I’ll be spending six weeks at an inpatient/outpatient eating disorder facility, but first, as a compromise with my coordinator, I’ll be going to WIC for two weeks to get some of that mother/baby experience.
WIC is a public assistance program for the low-income population of women, infants and children (hence, W-I-C). It provides supplemental food, nutrition counseling and referrals to other health services. Dietitians are a big part of WIC and as an intern it’s important for me to get a glimpse of it. What I’m not thrilled about is that they could only place me at a location in South Miami. Hello 45 minute drive plus terrible Miami traffic. Good news, like I said, it’s only for two weeks.
So starts another portion of the internship… chipping away at it, slowly but surely! But seriously, July, please come quick.
