Jessica Kwan

During my two-week public health intervention placement at Make Lunch Rugby, an organization dedicated to supporting families experiencing food poverty by providing hot meals during school holidays, I actively contributed to reducing food insecurity and promoting healthy eating habits in the community. My role involved creating recipes tailored for their activities, ensuring they catered to various allergies and dietary needs. Additionally, I developed informative leaflets offering practical tips on healthy eating aligned with the Eat Well Guide, as well as strategies to help families reduce grocery costs while still maintaining a nutritious diet. These experiences have deepened my commitment to patient-centered care and equipped me with valuable skills in nutritional education and resource development.

During my 12-week placement in Acute Medicine and Oncology, I gained extensive experience in acute inpatient care, which provided me with a deep understanding of various clinical conditions, nutritional management, biochemistry, and dietetic-related medications. My key responsibilities included:

• Nutrition Support: Reviewing patients for nutrition support using a "food first" approach and oral nutrition supplements.
• Enteral Feeding: Creating enteral feed regimens for patients with nasogastric tubes, PEGs, and jejunostomies.

I developed dietetic plans based on evidence-based clinical reasoning and a patient-centered approach, collaborating closely with nursing staff, speech and language therapists, and medical professionals. Effective communication was crucial, and I engaged with patients from diverse backgrounds, including those with disabilities and tracheostomy patients.

In addition to inpatient care, I gained valuable experience in an outpatient clinic, providing dietary services to oncology patients during their treatment. My consolidation weeks were focused on respiratory wards, where I further developed my expertise in respiratory nutrition care.

Beyond clinical practice, I enhanced my professional skills by delivering presentations and participating in an audit project. This placement significantly improved my knowledge and abilities in dietetics and patient care

During my placement, I engaged in rotational shadowing and practice across various specialties, including oncology, renal, colorectal, gastroenterology, stroke, neurology, elderly care, trauma, general medicine, and haematology. I also shadowed in specialized areas such as Intestinal Failure, Neuroendocrine Tumours, and complex gastro and renal conditions. This diverse experience significantly enhanced my theoretical knowledge of common medical conditions in these fields.

In my rotations, I proficiently obtained relevant information from medical notes, estimated nutritional requirements using evidence-based methods like PENG and ESPEN, and formulated appropriate dietetic care plans for oral nutrition support patients. I gained practical experience in justifying these care plans. Additionally, I reviewed patients with various special dietary needs, including allergies, vegan and vegetarian diets, and altered texture diets. This exposure deepened my understanding of these products and foods and their impact on nutrition and patient care.

In the last two weeks of the placement, I independently managed a caseload of oncology and haematology patients, providing dietary advice and conducting consultations autonomously. Beyond oral nutrition support, I formulated feeding regimens for patients with NG and PEG tubes and conducted reviews of NJ and JEJ feeds, including bolus feeding.

Completed 2 weeks of placement A to increase understanding of the role of dietitians in practice and hospital settings. Shadowed dietitians specialist in renal, general medicine, ICU, surgical ward and weight management. Developed knowledge of all aspects of dietetics, actively researchers conditions and asks questions. Attempted to gather information from range of different sources and practiced writing clinical notes. Practiced communicating with patients through diet history-taking to further develop communication skills.