Orientation Week

Congratulations you've matched! Now what?

You'll probably have a million different questions and that's okay. Orientation week will address those concerns and provide you with the tools you need to be successful.

Hi everyone! I'm Rakhi one of the lucky five people to call myself a Larkin dietetic intern.

The first week prior to starting orientation I was nervous and excited all at once. Do I remember everything I studied from my MNT classes? What will my days look like? A few months prior to orientation, you'll get a tentative schedule emailed to you by our director Su-Nui Escobar. She's great at accommodating to your rotation preferences if the options are available and you've given enough notice ahead of time. I was paired with 2 other interns to start in clinical while the remaining 2 interns started their rotations in community.

Before starting our Dietetic Internship (DI) orientation I had to complete the main Larkin Hospital 2-day orientation for policies, procedures, and Dr. Strong training for Baker Act patients a month before my actual DI start date. Once that was done I was ready for DI orientation. Each day our director and preceptor covered various topics ranging from MNT refreshers in the ICU, ventilated patients, and a new one for most of us the NFPE!

Tips before starting orientation:

Setup your parking -- you will thank me for this tip later!

Parking at Larkin

Pros:

Right across the street

Cons:

Limited on space
Must get there early -- before 6 am sometimes to get a spot
May need to follow(in a non-creepy way of course) a night nurse who is leaving their shift to their car to take their spot before someone else does!
If you're unlucky enough to find a spot you will have to valet $4/day which adds up!

Parking at Sunset Plaza on US-1 with a decal

Pros:

FREE!!
You can park there 24/7 (they tell you that you have to park there at least 3 days/wk for your access card to work DON'T BELIEVE THEM - mine worked after I was gone for 1 month on my pediatric rotation)

Cons:

10 minute walk from the hospital...but hey you get in your steps ;)
Parking attendant office is hard to find at first

* I chose to park at Sunset Plaza because it was free and these are the steps:

Go to Human Resources and fill out the form.
You will get a decal to put in your car.
Go to parking attendant office at Sunset Plaza (small door in garage 1st level across from Tire Kingdom) to receive your swipe badge.

Review your MNT

Go over your chapters for Upper & Lower GI, Cardiovascular, Liver, Kidneys, Pancreas, and Diabetes. Over the first 6 weeks of clinical you will have to report back on medications, procedures, and labs for each module. The other interns and I created a shared google drive for each module where we created study guides and it was so helpful!

Order your NFPE book

You will need this book to perform Nutrition Focused Physical Exams the very first day of clinical. Be sure to order it at least a week before you start as it can take a few days to be delivered. You can order the pocket guide here for only $15: https://www.eatrightstore.org/product-type/ebooks/nutrition-focused-physical-exam-pocket-guide-second-edition-ebook

Print the ASPEN guidelines

Our lovely preceptor emailed the 50 page guidelines before we started orientation. I read it from my laptop, but it is very dense. If there's one thing I wish I had done early on was wishing I had printed it and highlighted key points sooner. I like to color-code and tab the pages for quick referencing.

Good luck you deserve to be here and welcome to the family!