Dietetic Internship Update {Interview Questions}

I have news of the most excellent variety!

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know I talk about the same stuff over and over again.

I received an e-mail from the Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Dietetic Internship Director to set up a phone interview!

Yahooooo!

It was so funny, because I was out with all my nutrition girls last night celebrating our last day of MNT (Can you believe it?! We still have finals, but it definitely has not sunk in that the class which has basically been my.life. is now over. Anyways, back to the story…), and I was saying how anxious I was because I hadn’t received any e-mails for interview requests — two of the girls in my program already have (Cornell and Penn State – I know, I go to school with SMART girls.) — And then *ding,ding,ding!* The e-mail popped into my inbox at 1:05 am!

Yayyyyyy!

What a way to end an evening.

And might I say, I am amazed that the DI Directors are working these late hour for us lowly, newbie Interns. Makes you feel kind of special, huh? 🙂

I am on cloud nine this morning!

Maybe I am jumping the gun on this one, but this is kind of how I feel:

Now it come times to prep for the interview.  Our advisers at RIT have given us an extremely thorough 2 page list of some example questions.  Here are a few interesting ones from the list:

1. What is the future of the dietetic profession? (Holy smokes! Talk about a broad question!)
2. We have all had an experience either professionally or personally where we did not live up to the expectations of another.  Describe a situation in which this may have happened to you including your reaction and how you were affected by this experience.
3. The internship will require a large commitment of time, energy and financial resources over a 12 month period.  Do you anticipate any problems achieving this level of commitment. 
4. Please describe a patient or client contact you have had in a nutrition related setting.  Please describe the setting and tell us, what the most enjoyable aspect?  What was the least enjoyable or most challenging aspect? (I have lots of stories. Ha!)
5. Is there some unique quality or skill you will bring to us?
6. How will you add value to our institution as an intern?
7. Tell us about a time when you had to deal with an extremely difficult or unhappy customer, patient, or co-worker.  How did you deal with the situation and what was the outcome?  Would you do anything differently next time?
8. Have you ever worked in an ethnically diverse setting?  If so, please tell us what that experience was like for you.
9. Summarize yourself in 3 words, with one word describing strength, weakness, and the third, up to you. (I was asked a similar version of this question at my DI visit in Boise)
10. What is the most difficult thing you have ever done or your greatest challenge in your life (not work related)? What/how did you overcome it and tell us what you learned from it?
11. You receive a consult for diet education for a client.  The client arrives and is not interested in making any dietary changes.  How would you handle this situation?
12. If an overweight teenage boy came to you to discuss his eating habits and his mother was controlling the conversation, how would you handle the situation?
13. What three topics would you discuss with a newly diagnosed diabetic?
14. If you were asked to give a presentation at a health fair on three current trends in nutrition, what would they be?
15. If you had the opportunity to choose any topic and conduct research on it, what would you choose and why?
16. What do you think of the idea of implementing BMI measurements in schools K-12?
17. A man comes to see you for a consultation and he brings a new supplement that he bought at a natural foods store.  The supplement claims to lower cholesterol, but you have never heard of the supplement before.  How would you handle the situation. (This has happened to me before.)
18. Name two current trends in the field of dietetics.
19. What would you do if you were in charge of a kitchen during the food rotation and only half of your staff showed and there was only an hour before breakfast?
20. What would you do if you found out someone completely disregarded your recommendation(Ah yes, Welcome to the field of Dietetics!)

Whew! That’s a lot to think about it.

ALSO, I got matched for my Community Nutrition Rotation for this upcoming Spring quarter.  I am going to be shadowing/observing/working for the RDs at On Nutrition, a private practice here in Rochester!  Carol Plotkin is the owner and the NEDPG (Nutrition Entrepreneurs Dietetic Practice Group) Private Practice Specialty Chair, which is pretty darn cool.  Plus, they have a blog, which is pretty perfect for me. 🙂

Well, time for me to get to studying. I have a busy and FUN weekend planned!