My Community Rotations: Fall
Public Health, Nutrition Education, Staff Experience
WIC: Woodburn, OR
6 Weeks
My first rotation took place at WIC at Salud Medical Center and lasted for six weeks. I met a great number of patients, the majority who were Spanish speaking, who had a number of different medical conditions. Over the course of these weeks, I developed Patient Centered Education skills, also known as Motiviational Interviewing Skills. I counseled a diverse group of people from pregnant women, to newborn infants, to toddlers, to post-perinatal women. These patients had a vareity of different nutritonal issues including gestational diabetes, swallowing difficulties, premature delivery, iron deficiency, weight loss, and dental issues. I learned how to use TWIST, and entered patient's weight and height into the program, developed growth charts, and wrote notes on each patient that I saw.
I also did a number of different projects while at WIC. I gave presentations to the WIC staff, created lesson plans for classes, developed handouts and recipes for patients, and created a dietary plan for specific patients with serious medical conditions. These projects helped me to learn how to take information from my nutrition classes and put it into easy to understand language that is helpful to both patients and staff.
Project Examples:
Click on link to open up project.
Project #1: Iodine Newsletter
A new WIC risk code is going to be put into TWIST related to iodine deficiency in pregnant women. I typed up a document explaining why that risk code is going to be put into place.
Project #2: Recipes Using Baby Food
Many WIC mom's were asking what they could do with their leftover jarred baby foods. I put together a handout with different recipe ideas using baby foods in their list of ingredients.
Project #3: How to Increase Breastmilk Supply and Cultural Differences in Postpartum Practices
I gave this presentation and distributed this handout to WIC staff at their bi-monthly meeting.
WIC: Woodburn, OR
6 Weeks
My first rotation took place at WIC at Salud Medical Center and lasted for six weeks. I met a great number of patients, the majority who were Spanish speaking, who had a number of different medical conditions. Over the course of these weeks, I developed Patient Centered Education skills, also known as Motiviational Interviewing Skills. I counseled a diverse group of people from pregnant women, to newborn infants, to toddlers, to post-perinatal women. These patients had a vareity of different nutritonal issues including gestational diabetes, swallowing difficulties, premature delivery, iron deficiency, weight loss, and dental issues. I learned how to use TWIST, and entered patient's weight and height into the program, developed growth charts, and wrote notes on each patient that I saw.
I also did a number of different projects while at WIC. I gave presentations to the WIC staff, created lesson plans for classes, developed handouts and recipes for patients, and created a dietary plan for specific patients with serious medical conditions. These projects helped me to learn how to take information from my nutrition classes and put it into easy to understand language that is helpful to both patients and staff.
Project Examples:
Click on link to open up project.
Project #1: Iodine Newsletter
A new WIC risk code is going to be put into TWIST related to iodine deficiency in pregnant women. I typed up a document explaining why that risk code is going to be put into place.
Project #2: Recipes Using Baby Food
Many WIC mom's were asking what they could do with their leftover jarred baby foods. I put together a handout with different recipe ideas using baby foods in their list of ingredients.
Project #3: How to Increase Breastmilk Supply and Cultural Differences in Postpartum Practices
I gave this presentation and distributed this handout to WIC staff at their bi-monthly meeting.
Food Retail, Staff Experience
OHSU: Portland, OR
4 Weeks
My second rotation was at OHSU's Food and Nutrition Department and lasted for four weeks. I worked under Steven Hiatt, Food and Nutrition Director at OHSU, who acted as my preceptor. Prior to this rotation, I had never known of or even heard of a "Retail Dietitian". This rotation opened my eyes to the management and administrative side to dietetics, and I was exposed to several ways in which a dietitian could work in food retail. During the first week of my rotation, I traveled with several people from OHSU's Food and Nutrition Department to Seattle, Washington for an event called "Coffee Fest". I got to experience talking to several coffee vendors, bargaining for certain deals, and testing products that could replace existing products used at OHSU. Throughout the rotation, I worked on several different projects including secret shopping, evaluating the taste and quality of food sold at OHSU, organizing a blind taste testing, and working on sustainable food practices projects. I also learned about budgeting (P & L Statements), food costing, and management. This rotation taught me how to become a critic and how to creatively come up with solutions to problems that I observed. I developed an appreciation for food retail management through this rotation.
Project Examples:
Click on link to open up project.
Project #1: Management Paper
At the beginning of the rotation, I was asked to write up a summary of what the term "management" meant to me.
Project #2: OHSU Food Report
I was asked to eat and evaluate the food served at OHSU during the four weeks I spent there.
Project #3: My Chai vs. Oregon Chai Taste Testing
After visiting "Coffee Fest" in Seattle, I was convinced we needed a new Chai product at OHSU. We contacted My Chai, a local company that we met in Seattle, committed to selling whole, pure food. We organized a taste testing of this company's chai product and Oregon Chai used at OHSU.
After the taste testing, we found that subjects more often chose My Chai's product than Oregon Chai as their favorite. Subjects said that My Chai had a better flavor, seemed more pure in taste, and had more spices that Oregon Chai. After this taste testing, we presented the information to our preceptor who is now going to look into changing OHSU's chai product.
OHSU: Portland, OR
4 Weeks
My second rotation was at OHSU's Food and Nutrition Department and lasted for four weeks. I worked under Steven Hiatt, Food and Nutrition Director at OHSU, who acted as my preceptor. Prior to this rotation, I had never known of or even heard of a "Retail Dietitian". This rotation opened my eyes to the management and administrative side to dietetics, and I was exposed to several ways in which a dietitian could work in food retail. During the first week of my rotation, I traveled with several people from OHSU's Food and Nutrition Department to Seattle, Washington for an event called "Coffee Fest". I got to experience talking to several coffee vendors, bargaining for certain deals, and testing products that could replace existing products used at OHSU. Throughout the rotation, I worked on several different projects including secret shopping, evaluating the taste and quality of food sold at OHSU, organizing a blind taste testing, and working on sustainable food practices projects. I also learned about budgeting (P & L Statements), food costing, and management. This rotation taught me how to become a critic and how to creatively come up with solutions to problems that I observed. I developed an appreciation for food retail management through this rotation.
Project Examples:
Click on link to open up project.
Project #1: Management Paper
At the beginning of the rotation, I was asked to write up a summary of what the term "management" meant to me.
Project #2: OHSU Food Report
I was asked to eat and evaluate the food served at OHSU during the four weeks I spent there.
Project #3: My Chai vs. Oregon Chai Taste Testing
After visiting "Coffee Fest" in Seattle, I was convinced we needed a new Chai product at OHSU. We contacted My Chai, a local company that we met in Seattle, committed to selling whole, pure food. We organized a taste testing of this company's chai product and Oregon Chai used at OHSU.
After the taste testing, we found that subjects more often chose My Chai's product than Oregon Chai as their favorite. Subjects said that My Chai had a better flavor, seemed more pure in taste, and had more spices that Oregon Chai. After this taste testing, we presented the information to our preceptor who is now going to look into changing OHSU's chai product.
Patient Food Service
OHSU: Portland, OR
3 Weeks
I worked at OHSU's food and nutrition department gaining experience in the Patient Food Service world. I learned how to be a manager and how to juggle many different projects, human resources problems, and patient satisfaction issues all at the same time. I learned how to develop a "big picture" perspective in managemnent and how to train employees towards a larger goal.This rotation included many projects such as the tray accuracy test, test trays, plate waste studies, a sanitation presentation, research and abstract writing, RSA shadowing, interviewing potential employees, and writing the roster. This rotation was fast paced and busy, but primarily challenged me to develop as a manager of a vastly diverse team of employees. I learned how to provide them a vision and a goal for where the department was headed, and the tools for how each employee could contribute towards it, improving themselves and eachother each step of the way.
Project Examples:
Project #1: Sanitation Spotlight
I provided the food service staff with a sanitation presentation - don't touch your face, nose or hair and then food!
Project #2: Plate Waste Study
I participated in a food waste study which provided OHSU with information on how well food was received by patients. These numbers were compared to data collected prior to the department's switch to room service. This helped management to determine whether the switch was more cost effective.
OHSU: Portland, OR
3 Weeks
I worked at OHSU's food and nutrition department gaining experience in the Patient Food Service world. I learned how to be a manager and how to juggle many different projects, human resources problems, and patient satisfaction issues all at the same time. I learned how to develop a "big picture" perspective in managemnent and how to train employees towards a larger goal.This rotation included many projects such as the tray accuracy test, test trays, plate waste studies, a sanitation presentation, research and abstract writing, RSA shadowing, interviewing potential employees, and writing the roster. This rotation was fast paced and busy, but primarily challenged me to develop as a manager of a vastly diverse team of employees. I learned how to provide them a vision and a goal for where the department was headed, and the tools for how each employee could contribute towards it, improving themselves and eachother each step of the way.
Project Examples:
Project #1: Sanitation Spotlight
I provided the food service staff with a sanitation presentation - don't touch your face, nose or hair and then food!
Project #2: Plate Waste Study
I participated in a food waste study which provided OHSU with information on how well food was received by patients. These numbers were compared to data collected prior to the department's switch to room service. This helped management to determine whether the switch was more cost effective.
