Professional Experiences & Special Projects
Case Study: Short Bowel Syndrome
For my case study presentation, I chose to present on a NICU infant who has short bowel syndrome and vanishing gastroschisis. This was an interesting case because this patient utilized oral nutrition, enteral nutrition, and parenteral nutrition to meet his nutritional needs. He underwent multiple exploratory laparotomies within his first few months of life and had significant bowel resection due to necrosis. His clinical course was complex, yet due to successful nutrition interventions, his growth maintained a normal trajectory.
Nutrition Debate
One of our projects within the internship was to participant in a 20-minute debate that followed a standard debate format with an opening statement, arguments/rebuttals, and a closing statement. I was assigned to a group that was to argue against the proposed Planetary Health Diet. This diet is characterized by a variety of high-quality plant-based foods and low amounts of animal-based foods, refined grains, added sugars, and unhealthy fats - proposed to better our health and the health of our planet. Our group felt that this diet disregards the feasibility of the world’s population to follow a plant-based diet, given limited accessibility to food sources and/or financial constraints to purchase primarily plant-based items. This experience can be applied to my future professional practice because I learned how to professionally debate a nutrition-topic and argue a position based on examples and/or facts from credible sources. This can be applied to many areas of practice within the field of dietetics as we convince our patients/clients why nutrition is important in their particular circumstance. This is done using credibility, reliable sources, and respect for the other individual.
Journal Club
Within my research rotation at UW-Health, one of my required projects was leading a discussion on a current research article with fellow interns and Registered Dietitians. I chose to facilitate a discussion using an article titled, "The Influence of the New US Nutrition Facts Label on Consumer Perceptions and Understanding of Added Sugars: A Randomized Controlled Experiment." I provided a set of discussion question to participants beforehand, and led them through the study design, analysis, tables/charts, discussion and conclusion points of the study. I involved the audience by asking questions regarding interpretation of the study along with ways to implement this study into practice.
Quality Improvement Project
This quality improvement project was designed to standardize the portion sizes within the foodservice system at UW-Health. The goal was to improve employee adherence to portioning guidelines, prevent company overspending, and maximize customer satisfaction. Before initiating employee education on portion sizes, a group of “secret shoppers” recorded the weights of menu items to develop baseline data. Afterwards, employee education was initiated to explain the importance of portion control. After the initiation of employee education, a group of “secret shoppers” purchased and weighed various menu items once again to determine if the education was effective. Nutritional topics involving portion control were incorporated into employee education as a new perspective to the explain the importance of maintaining standard portion sizes. Posters about portion control were created and posted around the kitchen and information about portion control was discussed in morning huddles. After the initiation of employee education, a group of “secret shoppers” purchased and weighed various menu items once again to determine if the education was effective. After data collection, it was determined that the “secret shopper” initiative was proven to be ineffective. Further interventions may include collecting a larger sample size of data, eliminating error measurements, and including an incentive program.
UW-Health Research Poster Session
As a part of the UW-Health Dietetic Internship Program, we have the opportunity to present a research poster on the quality improvement project we conducted throughout the program. Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus pandemic, we were unable to participate in a traditional research poster session. Instead, we were able to virtually present our posters online to fellow interns and healthcare professionals.
