Professional Dietetic Portfolio of Ryan Labit

Dietetic Internship - Personal Statement

 

           After completing my Bachelor of Science in Clinical Nutrition from the University of California Davis, I found employment as a Dietary Technician at Center for Discovery. In my current role, I primarily work with adolescents recovering from various eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa and binge eating disorder. My role utilizes the critical skills that I have acquired from my Didactic Program particularly food standardization, food safety preparation and basic nutrition counseling. Working with clients recovering from eating disorders is extremely challenging because of the emotional and psychological factors related to their disease. However, after working with different clients for over a year, I discovered and embraced a strong sense of fulfillment from seeing their individual progression throughout the program.

            I am proud to say that I was a part of a team that successfully discharged one of my first clients from the center. As she bid farewell, I reflected back to her first night at the facility in which I introduced and assisted her in completing her first food log. Throughout her journey, I was able to build rapport during our evening dinner meals and weekly menu planning sessions. I approached each session both as a nutrition expert and as someone willing to listen to her story. Her relationship with her peers, health caregivers, and most importantly herself transformed during her time at the center. Food no longer symbolized a negative gesture, but rather a nourishing source of substance important for her life. This experience solidified my belief in the healing power of the Nutrition Care Process and how it can be effective through a network of people working towards the same goal. Furthermore, the many relationships that I was able to establish with all of my previous and existing clients have led me to pursue a career in the field of dietetics.

            In an effort to broaden my understanding of nutrition and health promotion, I interned as a Community Nutrition Outreach for Rethink Your Drink funded by the California Department of Public Health. As an RYD intern, I assisted with the campaign’s marketing strategies, demonstrated sugar content in common beverages, and taught how to identify sugar derivatives in drink labels. I am a firm believer that strong communication plays an important role in nutrition and health promotion. Throughout each event that I hosted, I successfully encouraged students and community members to mindfully choose different alternatives to the sugary beverages that they normally consume. I found that my ability to communicate the campaign’s mission was very effective from the feedback that I received from the students and community members. Therefore, I discovered that my greatest strength lies in my communication skills.

            In addition to my role as a Dietary Technician, while completing my undergraduate degree, I also held different full-time positions for Bank of America. In the nine years that I worked for the company, I was able to develop critical skills to manage different client relationships. Critical thinking, active listening, empathy and creative problem solving techniques are among the various skills that have contributed to my overall success. In my recent role as a Relationship Manager, I was responsible for introducing and counseling new college students about managing their finances while they are in school. Seeing that I could help and empower these students to take an active role in their financial stability was extremely rewarding. For that reason, I am confident that my financial counseling skills will be transferable as a Registered Dietitian and useful in establishing rapport with patients.

            I constantly find joy and excitement in learning new skills and applying these directly to my professional and personal life. To improve my ability to effectively counsel new clients and patients, I plan to fulfill my Continuing Education units by completing National Certified Counselor courses. Building and establishing patient care rapport is an important skill that a Registered Dietitian should have. Therefore, by learning different ways to reach out to different patients and clients, I will be able to promote wellness and nutrition to a wider demographic. With that said, I aim to organize and lead a medical mission to the Philippines that will help educate underserved population about basic health and nutrition programs. Having the ability to speak Tagalog will greatly benefit the mission.  

            Moreover, it is important to recognize that nutrition and patient care advancements are always changing. For that reason, adapting different leadership skills is critical in terms of managing these changes. As a Registered Dietitian, I intend to advance my leadership skills by completing a Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Management. With extensive background in building client relationships and passion for nutrition, my lifelong career is to assume a role as a Healthcare Director focusing on training new Registered Dietitians in building patient care rapport.  

             I do not see my position as a Dietary Technician as a job, but rather an exciting career that truly makes a difference to the clients that we help. As I meet new clients each week, I am eager to build partnerships and guide them to recovery, well-being and a healthy life. I always look forward to the day when I am able to look back at a client’s initial admittance to their last day.

             Completing a Dietetic Internship will ultimately provide the necessary technical skills and network to achieve my professional goal as a managing Registered Dietitian. With the dynamic field of nutrition and healthcare becoming prevalent in various industries, having the ability to establish relationship is critical for creating positive case management outcomes. I am the ideal candidate for the program because I am passionate about client and patient satisfaction. Furthermore, I see myself utilizing this opportunity to coach and develop future nutrition healthcare leaders, so that they are better equipped in establishing effective client relationships.