Hi everyone, it’s been awhile! Sorry for the massive delay, I had some things distracting me along with working longer hours during my 7 weeks of pediatrics.
I really enjoyed pediatrics–the peds dietitians are so much fun and working with kids/teens was really rewarding. I did 3 weeks on the general peds floor, 1 week (plus a few extra days during holiday coverage) in the peds ICU, 1 week in the neonatal ICU and 2 weeks of peds outpatient. The first week or so was pretty tough because, as many of you know from clinical and lifespan nutrition, everything is different and much more involved with kids! I was kind of dreading peds because I remember struggling over pediatric case studies in undergrad. I’m not sure what was harder though, the class case studies or real patients–real patients have more problems and their status may change quickly but at least there is usually more info available and of course practice helps… But anyway, long story short I enjoyed the pediatric floor and the ICU.
Surprisingly, I enjoyed the NICU too. I don’t think I’d set out to become a NICU dietitian but if the opportunity arose then I would definitely consider it. I think I was lucky though because that week we had an awesome Attending (they rotate every week so it’s the luck of the draw) and the dietitian I worked with that week was fun.
As for my 2 weeks of out patient, let’s just say each day was a whole new experience. I worked with 5 different preceptors over 8 days basically in a different clinic each day (sometimes 2 different clinics per day) so it was a little chaotic. I went to pulmonary, GI, weight management (both over- and underweight), infectious disease, feeding clinic, endocrinology and more that I can’t recall right now. Let’s just say I enjoyed some more than others… I though weight management was fun and enjoyed getting to spend 30-40 minutes talking to the patients.
I was actually sad when my time with peds was over, but now I’m working with my favorite group of patients–Oncology. I love Oncology-it’s so rewarding and so involved. When I was in peds I tried to work with as many of the oncology patients as I could and now I’m enjoying the adult population. I am hoping to find a career in oncology (peds or adult) so I’ll have to look and see what’s out there.
Sorry for the long overdue and brief post, I will try to post updates more frequently. Good luck to everyone applying, the deadline is quickly approaching!
RD To Be 