Dietetic Internship, Diabetes Rotation
December 1-18, 2009
On December 1st I walked into Joslin Diabetes Center with a tidy blue notebook. New notebook, new rotation. Crisp pages, clean mind. Now after 2 weeks I shuffle through this bent notebook, struggling to turn the crumpled pages against the deformed spiral binding. Smudgy scribbles, pages of barely-legible notes...there's too much diabetes information to process! Although this rotation has been a whirlwind, it has been great. Now I want to start organizing my thoughts and slowly piece together what I've learned.
Joslin is a eight story building on the corner of Brookline and Longwood Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts. Every day I enter through the first floor and pass the pharmacy and eye clinic. I spend most of my time on the second floor with the adult clinic. Sometimes I go up to the third floor to visit the fitness center and group education classrooms. In the evening you'll find me on the fourth floor library. But venture beyond the 4th, and I'll risk getting lost in research labs. Joslin Diabetes Center is an eight story building filled with brilliant people who are dedicated to the prevention, management, and cure of diabetes. The multi-discipinary team includes doctors, exercise physiologists, nurses, registered dietitians, researchers, and others. Kind of intimidating! Their vision,
Joslin Diabetes Center is an institution on the front lines of the world epidemic of diabetes, leading the battle to conquer diabetes in all of its forms through cutting-edge research and innovative approaches to clinical care and education. Every person at Joslin is dedicated to realizing our vision of a world without diabetes and its complications.The center was founded in 1898 by Dr. Elliot P. Joslin. He must have been an amazing doctor. After 2 weeks I'm slowly beginning to appreciate the power of Joslin's three pronged mission: innovative clinical care, personalized education, and ongoing research. Patients come from near and far to receive high quality care at Joslin. As I talk to them or sit with them in classes, I notice that they often feel empowered to continue living with diabetes. Hmm, this diabetes rotation is different than what I expected. This is exciting.
More to come! I've enjoyed this rotation, and I still have one week left in pediatric diabetes. There's many lessons that I want to slowly write down and remember. But with the information overload, how do I know if I am absorbing the right information? I worry about this.
But for now, I need to switch gears and focus on finals. Ready, set, go. I'm packing my bag and camping out at Tufts library today. My objective: final research paper on green tea and weight loss. Bye! : )
picture: First winter snow in Boston on December 4th.
5 comments:
That sounds like it would be an awesome rotation! I'm sure it was a great learning experience, even though it was a whirlwind.
Yup, learning a lot and I'm very grateful. Thanks Meredith!
Sounds like an enlightening rotation. My diabetes rotation was at a smaller hospital, but it was my first one and my first chance to counsel patients. I always come out of rotations feeling slightly disheveled. And that's why I have a stack of manila folders taking up space in my bookshelf. :-)
Yuki! Good luck on that paper.
Can't wait til you can share your findings with us....IN PERSON!!
eee!
Emily, I'm glad I'm not the only one. : )
Editha~ can't wait to see you!
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