i know that it's been way too long since i have updated this blog...and i feel like it's time...after my first four weeks of clinical nutrition work at the level one trauma hospital i transferred to SMCW 25 miles north....it's a level two trauma facility and i got a lot of experience with critical care nutrition...i was actually surprised at how much i liked that kind of work...though there are aspects of working in a hospital that are very difficult....there are a lot that are very rewarding...i could see myself doing clinical work if the need was there...it's not my first choice but it is an interest of mine...
after the clinical rotation it was on to food service management rotation...i was also placed at the same hospital for this rotation SMCW....however my daily routine would be very much different than it was during clinical...first, i had to be there at 6am...that would change to 5am a few weeks later...it takes about 30 minutes to get there...and takes me about the same amount of time to feel awake enough to drive...so that means waking up REALLY early...i was learning how to manage the patient food service side of the cafeteria...after 5+ years of experience managing busy restaurants this was a really hard rotation for me....i was bored...really bored...it was like managing a really slow cafe with a really limited menu...i did a lot of making up patient trays as their orders came in to keep myself entertained....which was fine..just i didn't feel at all like i needed my brain for this rotation...most of the other girls had been placed in school food service (public schools) and i think that would have been even harder for me...the hospital is contract managed...meaning the cafeteria and the patient food service is run by a food service company...and the management works for that company rather than the hospital...there were 4 managers for ~25 employees (patient, retail, operations and general managers)...i was shadowing the patient manager...so there was not a lot for me to do...
i was the line cook for a week....the production cook for a few days...did a high end catering for 16...handled many mini employee crisis that occurred....became friends with a lot of the employees...smiled and was calm in the face of a corporate employee who couldn't see beyond corporate guidelines...and generally just helped where i could see a need...apparently this was amazing to the hospital...the staff gave me a really nice thank you card, i got a certificate for a free cupcake from an employee and one made me home made Vietnamese egg rolls...yum...it was nice to know that i made an impact :)
that rotation ended yesterday! yeah! finally moving on to things more my speed now...my next rotation will be at the student health services building at UT...i will be working with a dietitian who does health promotion...i don't know yet what that means but we shall see...and it does not involve setting an alarm for 3.45am....or driving 50 miles a day....
also during this last rotation i got a new car :)...which i love....it's a honda CR-Z....a two seater, six speed manual transmission, hybrid....i love it...i had to fill it up with gas for the first time yesterday.. and i was a little disappointed that it had the same number of miles as my civic would have had per tank....however, as i was filling this car up for the first time...i found out that i have a tank that holds 2 fewer gallons than the civic...that made me smile...over 40 miles to the gallon...woot
and last but not least i finished my first history class which was self paced on line through UT...yeah!...the final was three hours of writing....actually writing with a pen in a blue book at a testing center...my hand hurt for like three days after...but i did great and am happy to just have one last history and then i am totally done with all of my course work...and will be graduating this summer after internship is over !!!!
so that is the long/short update that is overdue...hoping that my schedule eases a bit with the next rotation...and my history class flies by...now on to enjoy the weekend with my in-laws....and a second cup of coffee...
