The Summit: Official Halfway Point

Wow, where does the time go? The dietetic internship is officially halfway complete.

​I have learned so much, and yet there is still so much to learn. The best part about this profession is that education is continuous, whether it be related directly to nutrition or professionalism in itself. There is and always will be something to learn from someone!

This week with UK Dining and Aramark was jam packed full of food service and fun.

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Yummy Hummus LTO

Throughout the course of the academic year Aramark frequently sponsors Limited Time Offers (LTOs) in an effort to feature new menu items and cater to students'  requests. After conducting a market analysis Aramark discovered the students were requesting more international foods, and studies show that Mediterranean cuisine has gained a lot of ground in restaurants over the past four years.

Viola!! Yummy Hummus LTO was born. Aramark's research shows hummus has increased by 41% since it first began appearing on restaurant menus four years ago. The goals of this LTO included increasing customer satisfaction, providing innovative menu items, and driving trial/repeat visits. It was also a very convenient event to use as my Theme Meal project, to avoid "recreating the wheel," as my preceptor said.

Here was the schedule of recipes for the week:

Monday - Roasted Veggie Topped Hummus
Tuesday - Beef & Pickled Onion Topped Hummus
Wednesday - Deconstructed Gyro Topped Hummus
​Thursday - Moroccan Chicken Topped Hummus

Friday - Mediterranean Topped Hummus
Saturday - Chicken & Quinoa Topped Hummus
​Sunday - Eggplant & Carrot Topped Hummus

The event was held every day at Blazer Dining during lunch. The success of this event was greatly influenced by the timing in the semester. Apparently, business at Blazer Dining slows way down towards the end of each semester. Despite the sparse crowd, we averaged about twenty servings per day (Monday-Friday) between the hours of 11:30-1:30 pm. I would not dub that a total failure, although numbers for events held at the beginning of the semester were much higher.

However, it was very satisfying towards the end of the week when a few faces started to become familiar. Some people liked the LTO so much they were choosing to dine at Blazer instead of other establishments! After spreading the word at Blazer Dining and blasting the promotion via Instagram and Twitter, students started to look for us at the dining hall. That felt like accomplishment.

There was one moment throughout the week that refreshed an important food service lesson for me. Standardized recipes are very detailed documents that help to ensure consistent quality of the product in addition to controlling food costs, especially on a scale as enormous as the dining facilities at UK. It is important to double check every detail of the recipe, down to the type of serving spoon required for each dish. There was one day when I chose the wrong size serving spoons, which caused a bit of controversy for corporate employees. It was not too big of a deal since we were having a hard time moving the product to begin with, but nevertheless it was a good reminder to be aware of those issues.

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Nutrition Pop Quiz

I rounded out the work week by working on another interactive game for an event that is coming up. We will be hosting a Smoothie Bike event as part of the Block Party at the Kirwan Complex. Although the Smoothie Bike (intriguing, I know) is pretty self sufficient at drawing in students, we decided an interactive game would also be a fun way to bring students to our table.

I had a double edged sword idea of making our interactive game into a survey that could help assess the needs of UK students. I called it a Nutrition Pop Quiz and asked five relatively basic questions that could give a general idea of what students know/believe about nutrition related topics. My preceptor suggested including a question about what Health and Wellness events students would like to see more of next school year, as well as including an option to sign up for the monthly newsletter. 

I really hope this survey is successful!! I am very interested to see what type of results we get from our population. Check out the survey:

Create your own user feedback survey

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Reflection

Since it is the midpoint of the dietetic internship, I wanted to take a second to reflect upon my experiences. There is no possible way for me to describe everything that I have learned from this experience. However, if there has been one theme that has transcended rotations, preceptors, and all interactions thus far it would be that you never know until you try.

You never know if you can help a patient until you try. You never know if you can make a connection with your preceptor, coworker, or client until you try. You never know if you will get into graduate school until you try. You never know if you will make a difference in a person's life until you try. You never know if you will like something, anything, until you try. 

Just try. And keep trying. Sometimes it will work out better than you could have ever imagined, and other times it will not go as planned. The value of an experience is heavily reliant upon your reaction and perception of the action or event taking place. Be flexible, be brave, meet new people, say yes, keep trying.   

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Competencies:
CRD 1.1 Select indicators of program quality and/or customer service and measure achievement of objectives. (Tip:  Outcomes may include clinical, programmatic, quality, productivity, economic or other outcomes in wellness, management, sports, clinical settings, etc.)
CRD 1.3 Justify programs, products, services and care using appropriate evidence or data.
CRD 1.4 Evaluate emerging research for application in dietetics practice.
CRD 2.1 Practice in compliance with current federal regulations and state statutes and rules, as applicable and in accordance with accreditation standards and the Scope of Dietetics Practice and Code of Ethics for the Profession of Dietetics.
CRD 2.2 Demonstrate professional writing skills in preparing professional communications. (Tip:  Examples include research manuscripts, project proposals, education materials, policies and procedures.)
CRD 2.5 Demonstrate active participation, teamwork and contributions in group settings.
CRD 2.8 Apply leadership principles to achieve desired outcomes.
CRD 2.10 Establish collaborative relationships with other health professionals and support personnel to deliver effective nutrition services. (Tip:  Other health professionals include physicians, nurses, pharmacists, diabetes educators, health educators, etc.)
CRD 2.11 Demonstrate professional attributes within various organizational cultures. (Tip:  Professional attributes include showing initiative and proactively developing solutions, advocacy, customer focus, risk taking, critical thinking, flexibility, time management, work prioritization and work ethic.)
CRD 2.13 Demonstrate negotiation skills.
CRD 3.2 Demonstrate effective communications skills for clinical and customer services in a variety of formats. (Tip:  Formats include oral, print, visual, electronic and mass media methods for maximizing client education, employee training and marketing.)
CRD 3.3 Develop and deliver products, programs or services that promote consumer health, wellness and lifestyle management. (Tip:  Students/Interns should consider health messages and interventions that integrate the consumer’s desire for taste, convenience and economy with the need for nutrition and food safety.)
CRD 3.5 Coordinate procurement, production, distribution and service of goods and services. (Tip:  Students/Interns should demonstrate and promote responsible use of resources including employees, money, time, water, energy, food and disposable goods.)
CRD 4.1 Participate in management of human resources
CRD 4.2 Perform management functions related to safety, security and sanitation that affect employees, customers, patients, facilities and food.
CRD 4.4 Conduct clinical and customer service quality management activities
CRD 4.7 Propose and use procedures as appropriate to the practice setting to reduce waste and protect the environment.