Vancouver General Hospital Site Visit
What?
On September 21st, I visited dietitians Jennifer Yan and Anna Chan at Vancouver General Hospital. Jennifer is the clinical dietitian on the 14th floor in both the sub-acute orthopaedic unit (mostly elderly patients with hip fractures) and in the sub-acute medicine unit (mostly patients admitted with congestive heart failure, kidney disease, pneumonia etc.). Anna is the Food Services Manager in the kitchen, which provides meals for all patients in the hospital.
My group began in Jennifer’s office discussing her daily tasks, using the site visit report as a template for discussion. We spoke of her relationship with other healthcare professionals, had a tour of the ward, and were able to view a few of the patient charts to familiarize ourselves with terminology.
We then transported downstairs to visit Anna Chan in the kitchen. After a quick introduction, we put our hair nets on and immediately began our tour. The kitchen appears to be a constant active zone with several workers completing a variety of tasks at a time. We viewed the conveyor belt that holds food trays. We observed (very) old fashioned kitchen appliances, some still in use, others idling as unused antiques. This was a fantastic opportunity to gain insight into the tasks and responsibilities of a food services manager.
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So What?
For several years prior to my application into the dietetics major, I sought the opportunity to shadow a dietitian in an inpatient, acute setting. Often times because of confidentially issues, this was not possible. I was pleased to learn that my group would be able to conduct a site visit so early on in our program to see how a dietitian functions within this healthcare setting.
It was interesting to see how the roles of a dietitian would often overlap with other health care professionals. For example, either a dietitian, occupational therapist or a speech language pathologist will conduct a swallowing assessment on the patient depending on the severity of their illness and in which ward they reside.
It is important to have these kinds of opportunities for students to immerse them into the types of roles they may have in the future, either during internship or in their hired position. This way, we are familiar with the environment and tasks of a dietitian in this setting. In addition, the two dietitians we met with can be great resources in the future in case we have questions or need extra support in our positions. This opportunity has created a bridge between current and incoming students and provided us with a direct view of the types of settings in which dietitians can work.
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Now What?
We have followed up with Jennifer to thank her for her time and to have her overview our site visit report document. I look forward to reading my classmates’ posts regarding where they have visited and the types of experiences they had. The options for site visits ranged from residential care to acute settings, so it will be interesting to learn of the other areas in which dietitians work and the types of responsibilities and tasks they undergo. This assignment was a great experience and I look forward to visiting dietitians int heir practice settings in the future.