The Dietetic Internship is here!

The long awaited day has come and the dietetic internship has started! It seemed like it was so far away but I can already tell this year is going to fly by.

We had orientation at a Boston hotel which lasted 3 days and I think I lost 3 years of my life making the trip down from Dover, NH every day with so much touch and go traffic. The orientation was packed with information that brushed up on important details we learned in undergrad that we will be exposed to throughout the internship. There were also opportunities to chat with other interns during breaks, lunches, and a cocktail hour at an Irish bar on the second day. I got to meet a lot of people, some of which even went to the same college - UNH, but most were all over the country. This is a distance internship so you can complete it anywhere, and you get to set up your own rotations to really cater it to your interests.

My internship cohort group

I’m starting off with Women, Infants, Children (WIC), a federal program that provides grants to states for supplemental foods, healthcare referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age 5 who are found to be at nutritional risk. It has been two weeks so far with WIC and I really enjoy working with this population. I have been able to shadow and counsel clients with the nutritionists and they have even disclosed to me that I’m the first intern they have ever had to counsel and do anthropometric measurements on the first day! Most interns don’t start counseling until the end of the rotation after about 4 weeks. Not only is this rotation rewarding, but it is also fun. The people here are incredibly warm-hearted, empathetic, and they have a great work-life balance. One of the nutritionists was leaving to go to nursing school so I was invited to go to a trampoline park with the staff to celebrate her departure and her work with the clinic. And this is just the beginning.

Sky zone in Manchester, NH

The next rotations will be community outpatient nutrition with a diabetes educator, then the clinical rotation which is the longest at 400 practice hours, my concentration rotation which is nutrition communications and marketing, food service, long term care, and my elective which will be in critical care. It is great that this is a part-time internship so that I’m still able to work and spend time with my family. I will be wrapping up the internship next September 2019, and then I will be able to take the RD exam! The great thing about the Wellness Workdays dietetic internship is that they provide you with the Jean Inman test prep which can go for around $400! It’ll take a solid month or two of studying before I should take the exam. It’s going to be a lot of work, but it’ll be SO worth it to be able to live my passion and by helping others achieve their health goals.

I've heard of many interns saying that you just have to get through it, but I'm going to do my best to make the most out of each rotation and each person I meet. This is the only time that I'll get to have an experience like this where I can learn a variety of settings and the different ways each professional goes about counseling and care. I'm excited for the year ahead!



My little family ❤️


Stay tuned for the wrap-up posts for each rotation and check out my post on how to score a dietetic internship to see the internship application process!:
5 Tips for Scoring a Dietetic Internship
Dietetic Internship: Community Rotation at WIC
Dietetic Internship: Community Rotation with Diabetes Educators
Dietetic Internship: 5 Helpful tips for Clinical Rotation