October 8, 2024, by Leah Sharpe

How my internship experience strengthened my career aspirations and confidence

By Havanah Virtue-James, MNutr Nutrition and Dietetics student  

As a second-year dietetic student, I completed a two-week hybrid internship at Nottingham CityCare. I wanted to do this internship to get real insight into how dietitians work in the community.

I also wanted to see how they collaborate with other professionals and how each of these professionals supports adults, children and families in the community.     

My internship experience

As an intern, I shadowed different health practitioners in the community, such as specialist dietitians and health visitors. My experience included watching dietitians deliver consultations, listening to an online multi-disciplinary team meeting, participating in a family cook and play session and observing a health visitor with a family. Plus, watching a group of adults be educated on self-managing their newly diagnosed diabetes and much more. It was nice to see how each professional shared their expertise to provide care and support to meet diverse people’s health and social care needs.

How this internship helped me

1. The key thing I learnt from this experience was how much individuals and families in the community need health practitioners’ help and support to have a healthier and happier lifestyle.

2. I witnessed how important it is for children at an incredibly young age to be educated and receive the necessary care, love, and guidance from their parents or loved ones.

3. I learnt to build on my confidence to ask questions to different health professionals. This enabled me to gain efficient career advice and tips.

4. Observing these professionals’ work inspired me to want to stand out more in my method of approach when delivering person-centred care towards patients/clients I see in the future.

My advice for interns

As a university student, I strongly recommend other students seek internship opportunities. It will help you get relevant experience for your career and allow you to see aspects of your career for further aspiration and confidence.

1. Ask questions (lots of questions). Staff say they like it when interns/trainees ask questions; that shows they are engaged and interested in learning.

2. Contact the people you worked with for feedback and further advice after your internship. This is one thing I wish I had done. It would have aided my future learning and self-reflection, and helped me network as well as stay up-to-date with work opportunities.

3. Don’t take your work experience too seriously. Whatever the tasks may involve, try to enjoy your internship and use it effectively. Be sociable and engaging with those you meet.

4. Be open-minded. For instance, challenge yourself by doing something new or completely different.

5. My final advice is to make and learn from those mistakes; mistakes are valuable to your learning and self-development journey. 

This internship established that working in the community as a future dietitian meets my personal and career goals and interests. If you are considering an internship, visit the careers website internship page. Start your search now. Get valuable internship experience while gaining or strengthening your career aspirations and confidence.

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