How I Ended up Back in Houston

I gave in and joined the blogging world! My purpose in creating this blog is to document my experience as a dietetic intern for the next 7ish months. I know myself too well and I know that I won't journal/document my time as an intern very well. Hopefully this will help!

This first post will give a quick run down on the process to get a dietetic internship and become a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), or the title formerly known as Registered Dietitian (RD).

I've lost track of how many times I've explained my internship. I'll start at the beginning and hopefully avoid further questioning :) I graduated with my Bachelor's in Dietetics from Brigham Young University (BYU) in April 2014. I didn't get matched with an internship, so instead I worked as a Diet Tech at the Intermountain Medical Center until the next spring match for internships.

Matching? Internships? Sounds confusing and fun right? BYU's dietetics program was mostly learning in the classroom setting and resulted in my Bachelor's degree. Before you can practice as a dietitian you have to pass the national registration exam, but before you're eligible to take the exam, you have to complete an internship.

The question I get the most is, but you did an internship at Michigan State that summer, doesn't that count? Although that internship was super fun and great experience, unfortunately it doesn't count. The internship required before the registration exam must be accredited by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. It requires a certain number of practice hours and prepares you to take the national exam.

Now the matching process...Dietetic internship spots are filled through computer matching. All dietetic graduates seeking an internship complete a centralized online application, choose which programs to apply to, and rank those programs in order of preference. The internship programs rank their applicants in order of preference based on the application criteria. The computer then matches you with a program...or not...you get one program or no programs. Unfortunately the matching rate is 50% nationally. I definitely learned the importance of applying to the right programs in the right order.

I applied for internships my last semester of school at BYU to start the next fall, but I wasn't matched. I think I applied to programs that were too competitive or ranked them in the wrong order. As my program director told me, sometimes you're a qualified applicant, but it just doesn't work out.

So I applied again! I applied to completely different programs than the previous year. I also had almost a year of clinical experience from my job with Intermountain, which helped a lot! I applied to about 6 programs, with the University of Houston as my first choice. I grew up in Houston and love Texas, but never intended to go back to Houston. The program at the University of Houston was just too perfect for my interests. Most internships are 10 months-a year, but mine is only 7 months long!

I am so excited to get started! I'll have about a week of orientation at the university, then I start with my clinical rotations! My first 5 weeks will be at Ben Taub and then I'll be at Texas Children's Hospital. Hopefully it all goes well!