Howdy!
Today I finished my 6th week of my food service rotation, which means that next week is my last week! I am super excited but also a little stressed out because I have a lot of stuff left to take care of. Does any other dietetic intern feel like a sleep-deprived zombie high on caffeine all the time? Or am I the only one? Oh well, the end is near :)
This week was probably one of my most favorite weeks since I’ve been in this rotation. For starters, school is now in full swing and everyone is settling into their back-to-school groove. I have also had a lot of extra things going on in my internship that have kept me super busy.
I started out the week by shadowing a health inspector doing a health inspection. That has definitely been one of the best experience of this rotation. I have never been in a commercial kitchen outside of a school setting so that in itself was pretty cool. I also learned more about equipment and the new food code that North Carolina just adopted. PLUS I got to wear a pretty sweet white hair net for the whole day…. gotta make a fashion statement.
I spent another day out in the schools doing food orders. Food ordering is pretty complicated if you are just walking into a kitchen and randomly doing it. You have to take what is on the menu and consider what you already have in stock, what is coming in on your previous order, and what you will use up prior to your newest order coming in the following week. I think it is a lot easier when it is your own kitchen and you know your inventory and usage like the back of your hand. Nonetheless, I did it. It only took all day :)
I did a plate waste study yesterday and also examined the production records of a school that switched the order of their serving lines. They previously offered hot foods first, but switched their cold wells to be able to offer fresh produce first in the line. Studies show that students pick up more of what they come across first in the line so the hope is that students will consume more fresh produce with the new line set-up. So I’m using this in a research paper I have to write.
Today was pretty cool because I actually interned from home. One of the challenges of interning where I work has been that I easily get caught up in non-internship related things that end up taking a lot of time. After discussing this with my internship director, we decided it would be good for me to intern from home for a day to work on projects that I have not yet had time to do. I spent today going through School Nutrition magazines and compiling promotional information from them. I created a promotional calendar and a packet of other ideas to increase participation in schools. I love that I was able to do this because it’s something that I’ve just not had time to do in my regular work schedule. An added bonus is that I hung out at Starbucks for part of the day. Pumpkin spice latte… yes, please :)
While it will be sad to leave all of my coworkers for another 2 months, I am definitely ready to put this rotation behind me and move on to my next rotation. Even though I did get credit for half of the rotation, I felt like it was sort of a formality that I had to complete a school food service rotation. I believe you can *always* learn more but I think my 5 years of work experience will outweigh anything I could have accomplished during a 7-week rotation. It was also kind of hectic interning where I work (even though I am incredibly grateful that they have supported me in completing my internship).
So what is up for the next week?
- Write research paper
- Complete write-up on plate waste study
- Finish a few minor assignments
- Do a taste test
- Complete evaluations of this rotation
I have officially completed 15 weeks of my internship and now I only have 10 weeks left. It is crazy that I’m over halfway through… time to start thinking of the massive celebration I need to have in November :)
Have a great weekend!