Rita Woodard – Area 10

​Hello! My title is Rita, and I’m a Sodexo intern from area 10 primarily based in Dallas, TX. I’ve lived within the Dallas space for the previous 9 years, so it was good that Sodexo had an internship spot accessible in my space. I simply wrapped up my time at a hospital the place I used to be in a position to full my meals service, scientific, affected person providers, and scientific diet administration rotations. After orientation in September, it felt like I’d be on the hospital perpetually! Now, I can’t consider how rapidly the time has gone and the way a lot I’ve grown throughout that point. General, I actually loved the scientific rotation. I used to be at a instructing hospital so everybody, from the crew of dietitians to nurses, PT, OT, SLP, MDs, and management have been prepared to assist. One advice I’ve for different interns or potential interns is to ask questions! This not solely helps you study extra when you are on the job, however it exhibits that you’re engaged and care about what you’re doing, you respect the particular person’s data and opinion that you’re asking the query to, and that you’re taking an energetic step to study as a lot as attainable. I had beforehand labored in a company setting, so being in a hospital was a brand-new expertise. It was troublesome to see sufferers that have been comparatively younger face a troublesome prognosis, older sufferers that have been failing to thrive, or sufferers that didn’t make it out of the hospital that I had engaged with a number of instances. Probably the most rewarding elements, nonetheless, was having the ability to join with sufferers and seeing their well being enhance over the course of their keep. Whereas some sufferers simply wished you out of their room and would solely reply with 1–2-word solutions, others loved having somebody to speak to. I liked working the geriatric service and having sufferers inform me about what they used to do or inform me about their grandkids. Different flooring, it was extra about connecting with a member of the family or caregiver relying on the state of the affected person. By making a connection as a substitute of only a transaction, I used to be higher in a position to construct belief with sufferers and their households. It helped sufferers by feeling that their healthcare crew members actually have been fascinated with their care and have been retaining observe of their progress. It helped me by having the ability to assess modifications in a affected person not solely by their scientific standing, but in addition by having the ability to establish modifications within the affected person’s temper, how they describe how they really feel from everyday, modifications of their look, and the way their household is feeling the affected person is enhancing.  It was additionally extra satisfying to see a affected person be discharged in a greater state than they have been after they got here in!