Field Placement:  Veterans Health Administration Greater Los Angelels Area
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Preceptor: Colleen Ross
Student Name: Caitlin Greene
Year: 2008

My field study took place at the Veterans Health Administration Greater Los Angeles Area (VHAGLA) over the summer and fall of 2008 under the guidance of Dietetic Internship director, Colleen Ross, MS, RD.  The purpose of this internship is to prepare interns to be at minimum, an entry-level Registered Dietitian in the clinical, community and nutrition foodservice fields of the profession. To achieve this, I worked in a variety of settings designed to develop the necessary knowledge and skills needed to be an effective Registered Dietitian. Settings included all of the VHAGLA facilities such as Long Beach, Downtown and West LA campuses as well as outside partnering organizations such as Northeast Valley Healthcare Corporation WIC sites, and AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA). Working in a variety of settings allowed me to gain a broader experience with working with different types of patient populations.

For example, I worked in the outpatient setting by providing veterans with nutrition education at the individual and group level. I developed counseling skills needed to obtain accurate information from patients, such as motivational interviewing and twenty-four dietary recalls. I provided nutrition counseling and education on a wide range of topics such as weight loss, diabetes, end-stage renal disease (ESRD), HIV/AIDS, heart disease, high blood pressure and cancer. In addition to counseling and teaching classes, I learned what it is like to be part of interdisciplinary medical team as well as how to read and write in an digital medical record system. I also learned how to apply individual and interpersonal behavior theories in the clinical setting. Throughout this experience, I attended weekly classes with fellow interns that were taught by dietetic and medical professionals who were on staff at the VHAGLA.

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