By Cristen Scifo

I had no idea just how much this internship would push me out of my comfort zone. I don’t mean that in a bad way either. In college, you could pretty much get away with only doing as much as you are comfortable with. For example, in college I never would have volunteered to get up and talk to 165 people about nutrition, and nobody would have made me either. In my internship, however, my internship director told me that I would be giving my technology tool presentation on 3D Printing of Dysphagia Appropriate Foods at the upcoming Maryland Dietetics in Health Care Communities (MD-DHCC) Spring Conference in front of ~165 Registered Dietitians. While I feel I might have pulled off an outwardly calm composure, inside I was freaking out. I am not, and have never been, a good public speaker.

My first reaction when I got home that day was to panic. I had maybe a month to get ready and I was already terrified I would embarrass myself in front of my future peers; the dietetics community is pretty small. I spent the next couple of weeks adamantly refusing to even think about the conference or my presentation. A couple of days before the presentation, I had come to my senses and practiced my presentation, but I was still feeling nervous. When it was time to take the stage, my legs were visibly shaking in my high heels. I began to have a very real fear that I might be sick before I even got up the stairs. You might be wondering what happened next: I gave my presentation, I didn’t mess up, I wasn’t sick, and I did not embarrass myself. I was so worried to step out of my comfort zone when in the end, all it did was improve me. I now know that I am capable of public speaking, and I never would have known that if I hadn’t tried…or been forced to try.

In this program, we have participated in a lot of conferences and professional events that often pushed us into situations we had never been in. We shook hands with corporate vice presidents, interned at big name companies, handled clinical cases that we needed guidance on, and have all now accomplished some sort of public speaking. While not all of these experiences were what we were expecting when we were matched to a dietetic internship, they are just as important as learning how to calculate a tube feed or construct a lesson plan. These professional skills are what will set us apart from other applicants in our fields. These skills will make us more confident and comfortable in the workplace.  

I am thankful for this internship in many ways, but one of the biggest reasons I am thankful is because this internship has changed me. I can safely say, and I think most of my classmates would agree, that I am not the same person I was when I started. Without change, we cannot grow, and without growth we cannot improve. With less than two months left of this program, it is amazing to sit back and reflect on the opportunities for professional growth that our class has been given.

By: Samantha TenEyck

Colleges and universities across the nation strive to offer quality, sustainable and healthful foods to students dining on campus. From what I have seen, many university students feed on convenience, the latest food trends and transparency regarding the freshness, nutritional content and ingredient origin of what they are consuming. As many dining services transition their facilities to create memorable, innovative experiences for their students, the increasing interest surrounding health, environmental issues and nutrition must be integrated as well. During the internship, I was lucky enough to get a “behind the scenes” view of how this is made possible through the efforts of University of Maryland (UMD) Dining Services and Sustainability.

My first exposure to the University of Maryland’s dining services was in the Fall when my partner, Cristen, and I completed our two-week rotation with University of Maryland Office of Sustainability. This rotation allowed me to learn about the dining hall menus, where campus food is sourced from and the Menus of Change initiative that UMD Dining and Sustainability is working to implement. The Menus of Change (MOC) University Research Collaborative, an extension of Menus of Change initiative, was created by Harvard and the Culinary Institute of America to promote an increasingly plant-based, diverse menu with ingredients sourced and prepared in a sustainable manner.  Having these experiences in the back of our minds, Cristen and I were excited and curious to see how campus dining executes MOC, all while ensuring students are enjoying their dining experience, and the operation makes a profit.

At University of Maryland, campus dining has become a powerful recruiting tool through their “anytime dining” plan, which permits students to enter the dining hall as many times a day as they would like. This plan has allowed campus dining to reduce costs and food waste, all while supporting the idea that the dining experience should allow students to expand their sense of knowledge, culture and community. For our projects, we used marketing techniques marketing techniques to encourage students to try new foods, educating them about where it comes from and why they should try it. Our goal was to provide this information in a convenient, eye catching manner, so that students could absorb the importance of key health and wellness topics.

As we entered our rotation with campus dining, Sister Schrimpe, the UMD dining quality coordinator and nutritionist, provided Cristen and me with a list of objectives we were to complete over a three-week time period, including a variety of marketing materials. Cristen and I focused on creating table tents, posters, articles, blogs and “Know Your Nutrition” wellness walls that projected general nutrition information to the students, as well as the UMD Dining faculty and staff. We decided to use a springtime theme for our wellness walls, with different sub themes including opening day, spring cleaning and a spring picnic. Each wellness wall included a weekly recipe, cooking tip, nutrition tip and exercise tip in both English and Spanish for students, faculty and staff in South Dining.             

Creating marketing materials for dining services allowed Cristen and me to distribute nutrition knowledge in a manner than would be visually appealing, interesting and understandable for individuals of all academic backgrounds and literacy levels. It was very encouraging to see people stopping by the boards to take a copy of a trail mix recipe or enjoying their meal while reading a table tent about the importance of minerals in the diet. In addition to creating marketing materials, Sister Schrimpe also connected Cristen and me with many of the “behind the scenes” professionals. We met with the senior Graphic Designer, Director of Human Resources, Director of Dining Services, Director of Finance and the dining halls Kitchen Managers, who provided us with valuable information regarding what they do to keep dining services running smoothly. We assisted the kitchen managers by working on the line during lunch shifts, checking items into the warehouse and transporting them to the dry storage and freezer. Meeting with each of the Director’s allowed Cristen and me to understand the processes and procedures in place to adequately operate the kitchen, marketing and finance offices.

As a component of the campus dining rotation, Sister Schrimpe has interns create a final vegan meal to present to faculty and staff. Sticking to our springtime theme, Cristen and I crafted a vegan-friendly picnic meal consisting of a green goddess sandwich, asparagus with cream sauce, macaroni salad and s’mores bars. On the morning of our final presentation, Cristen and I met Chef George in 251 North, one of the three campus dining halls. We gathered our materials and began washing, cutting and preparing the base vegetables for our sandwiches and macaroni salad.

Personally, my favorite item to create on our menu were the s’mores bars, which consisted of a homemade granola crust, topped with a non-dairy chocolate ganache and vegan marshmallows. Once our meal was completed, we set up the dining room to mimic a family-style picnic. Many of the faculty and staff thoroughly enjoyed our meal, even taking seconds of the vegan goodies!

As my time at campus dining came to an end, it became clear to me how valuable providing nutrition information to young adults at colleges and universities truly is. As a future dietitian, my hope is for college students to continue utilizing nutrition resources and incorporating aspects of health and wellness into their daily lives.

~ Jackie Choffo

From the day I decided I wanted to become a registered dietitian I knew there was a step-wise process to follow. Get good grades in college with stellar volunteer experience. Apply for competitive internships and hopefully get accepted to one. Pass the registration exam for dietitians. Then FINALLY land my dream job. But there isn’t a magical formula that will lead me to a full-time position. Where was I going to start? It felt like for 8 months my sole focus was devoting all of my energy to perform well at my rotations and keep up on my internship work. Then suddenly I flipped my calendar and its April…cue the mild panicking.

Luckily, our internship director dedicated an entire class-day to going over resumes, job hunting, and the interview process. I would like to reflect on some of that information and how I am going to apply it to my job hunt in the coming months.

Why a strong resume is essential

Every single job posting requires a current resume. You have limited time to grab the reader’s attention so make sure the most important information is at the top! The resume can be used as a screening tool to assure applicants have the right qualifications for the job. In college, I enlisted the help of my friend who was a marketing major. He helped me reformat my resume so that it was appealing and descriptive.  Now, as I start to submit resumes and cover letters, I am once again enlisting reviewing help. Multiple sets of eyes will reduce the chance that I have typos or confusing language in my resume. Different professions, or even different jobs within a profession, might prefer different styles and formats of resumes, so I have learned that it is important to know your audience! A resume is a work in progress. I have determined that it’s easier to update my resume as I go through the internship rather than waiting till the end and then trying to remember every single project you completed after graduation.

Characteristics of a good resume

For a person who does not like the spotlight, I find it hard to boast about my accomplishments. However, this is exactly what I should be doing on a resume. Many potential employers spend 30-60 seconds scanning a resume, so I need to make every single word count. I offer you some nuggets of advice that were shared with me:

• Develop specific resumes for different kinds of positions. For example, community vs. clinical positions.
• Highlight experiences that are relevant to the field of dietetics and set you apart.
• Plan your resume in a clear format that is easy to navigate.
• Use action verbs to describe specific skills you used on the job.
• Don’t just recite job duties – make the bullet points actions.
• Quantify whenever possible. For example, say “I saw 8-10 patients a day during my clinical staff relief.”
• Avoid expressions that say nothing give the employer something to visualize.
• White space is a must, so resist the urge to use ½ inch margins.

Interviewing tips

I have not yet reached this stage for my own job search, but I want to share some of what I have learned during my internship about interviewing. By the time you are called in for an interview, your killer resume has been submitted to your potential employer. The hiring manager thinks you are a great fit because of the meaningful experiences you had during the internship and is impressed by the metrics you provided in your resume. Now it’s time to really prepare yourself.

During the internship, I was able to sit in on multiple interviews for clinical and food service positions. My preceptors and I would discuss the strengths and weaknesses a candidate displayed during their interview. From what I gathered, a big recommendation was to show enthusiasm about the position. There is no shame in being excited about a job in a field you are passionate about. Managers also want to hire team players. Clinical skills can be taught on the job, but no one can teach you how to work well with your peers and have a positive attitude. Here are a few other miscellaneous tips to have a memorable interview:

• Thank you notes are a must, even if you do not get offered the position.
• Be prepared with specific examples for standard behavior questions, for example “Tell me about a time you worked as part of a group.”
• Technical questions might be included, be honest if you do not know the answer.
• Do not speak poorly about a former employer or preceptor.
• Pay attention to the non-verbal cues you are displaying, like eye contact and gestures.
• Prepare questions in advance of the interview to ask at the end, and ask them politely.

Job hunting is an exciting time. It is the culmination of all of your hard work and dedication to the profession. And it doesn’t have to be daunting! I have learned that the earlier you start the process of polishing your resume and brainstorming a list of “must-haves” for your future job, the more manageable this task seems. From the direction I received during the career prep class day, I started with what geographic location I would be willing to move to, and then what benefits I would like from a company. I am excited to start applying for jobs and showcasing all of the experiences I have had during the internship!

By: Stephanie Jean

When thinking about “leadership” and “management,” it can be daunting to consider all of the responsibilities and tasks that come to mind. This is exactly how I felt during the beginning of my food service management rotation. My introduction to management took place during my first week when my partner and I were lined up with meetings from various leaders within the hospital. I was intrigued by the number of times that managers were scheduled to meet throughout the week to discuss important topics that impacted hospital staff and patients. During these meetings, I began to see how there was a considerable amount of planning and discussion; these meetings are where goals are planned, achievements are administered, and success is fostered. 

Throughout the ebbs and flows of the internship, I have been impacted by advice from leaders  in what seems to be given at the exact time in which I needed it. One of our meetings was with the Regional Manager of Clinical Nutrition and Wellness, where our discussion outlined her roles in management as a Registered Dietitian (RD). While meeting, I mentioned my personal concern regarding limited leadership opportunities for clinical dietitians. The ability to grow and expand my role throughout my career is one of my top priorities. Since I perceived leadership opportunities in the clinical setting were sparse, I had been drifting away from a clinical career path. She informed me that my concern was common, but that there were so many opportunities to practice leadership in the clinical setting, even as an entry-level dietitian. As a leader, she recognizes the importance of fostering leadership and growth opportunities for her employees, which is what I consider a core principle in leadership. Our time spent reassured me that there will always be an opportunity to practice leadership as a dietitian; no matter what career path I choose.

Leadership takes many different forms and can vary from day to day, especially in the food service industry. One moment you may be managing budget and payroll records, then suddenly you are executing a plan to quickly fix an unexpected leakage in the kitchen. It is a role that requires many hats, and I have learned from the Manager of Food and Nutrition that you must always provide exemplary behavior to your staff so they can follow suit. If they do not see their own leaders practicing various skill sets in the workplace, then what are the odds that they will be willing to have the same attitude?

I had the pleasure of meeting with the General Manager of the Environmental Service Department (EVS), and he shared similar advice concerning the varying levels of leadership as well. As we were conversing about his role, I was led to ask how he felt about the “I’ll just do it myself” style of leadership that many leaders can fall victim of. Simply put, he stated, “If you are always working a step down you can never work a step up.” This resonated with me and I believe it is relevant for leaders in all industries. In order to build your team and allow them to grow, you must be willing to see them fail at times, even if it pains you to do so. What matters is the recovery, and the time it took to fix the mistakes. I heard the mantra, “try fast, recover fast”, and I will always consider these words of wisdom from the EVS General Manager.

During my time in my food service rotation, I have witnessed the impact of leaders being in sync with one another, and how this ultimately determines the outcomes of goals, achievements, and success in the hospital. True leadership mean that there is no one leader that takes the cake for doing the best or achieving the most. It truly is a team effort that is strengthened when leaders from every department approach one another with respect and dignity. Now as I walk by closed conference room doors in the hospital, I think of leaders coming together to provide solutions and drive organizational results. One day I may be on the other side of those doors, but for now I am building the confidence to grow into leadership. With the proper guidance it is possible, and I am glad to know that I learned by example from the leaders that surrounded me at in my food service management rotation.

by: Isabella Dang

Most Exciting Rotation Ever

One of my most exciting rotations was spending two weeks at a food and nutrition public relations (PR) company (FoodMinds) in Washington, D.C. It was neat to learn about food and nutrition through the PR lens as it dealt more with behavioral science, food policy, business, customer service and a healthy dose of registered dietitian (RD) expertise. The opportunities to engage in research and development was enriching and I came across an interesting story that drove me to think deeply about… avocados. Yes, avocados. California’s state fruit!

Avocados are everywhere these days — in smoothies and salads, plus on toast and trendy t-shirts. The “guac is 50 cents extra” avocado craze is not a new thing, but it wasn’t always like this. Food and nutrition PR is what made the avocado what it is today.

Alligator Pear

Sound appetizing?

“Alligator pear” was the original name of the avocado. The name reflects the fruits natural unripe appearance– green, scaly, bumpy, and pear shape physique. Yup, that name makes sense, but it definitely did not sit well with the public. The unappealing name as well as confusion on how to incorporate the fruit further plateaued the fruit’s sales. In 1951, the California Avocado Association addressed the PR issue and changed the “alligator pear” to what we now know as the “avocado.”

Avocado Now

Changing the fruit’s name to avocado wasn’t the end all be all of its claim to fame. The avocado went through some rough patches, especially with emerging “low fat” fad diets in the 80s. Society was not at the point of understanding that there were such things as “good” and “bad” fats. A PR agency began to dive into nutrition research and found that the avocado was a source of good fat. What really helped drive avocado consumption was its marketing and PR around the Super Bowl. Guacamole companies passed out samples of the mashed up fruit and the rest is history.

Power of marketing

During my time at FoodMinds, I had the opportunity to work on international projects like creating a nutritional analysis of competitors for a large food and beverage corporation. My project work required me to consider their target audience and the country’s food landscape. My work included analyzing dietary guidelines, navigating through international websites, and translating food science into layman’s terms. Similarly, the avocado story required insight from multiple experts and multiple translations/ variations– passing through farming language, nutrition science, cultural competence, marketing. PR etc. Words are powerful and they can drive ideas into tangible results! If words alone are able to change the profile of the avocado, imagine their effect on public health at large. The combination of nutrition science, RD expertise, marketing, and PR strategies has powerful leverage in our food system. This intersection of skills helped me see the importance of RDs in the PR and marketing industry.

An eight-day rotation is not a whole lot of time, but I would advise any incoming intern to make the best use of the time they have. Some advice:

1. Introduce yourself to as many people as you can.
2. Make it a goal to leave each person you interact with some fact about yourself.
3. Ask questions!
4. Practice gratitude and appreciation to everyone around you.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at FoodMinds and I learned that combining marketing with the expert knowledge of an RD can hopefully drive behaviors towards healthier options. This is innovative preventative care and it was exciting to be at the center of this intersection, especially in DC!