Be in a place you know: Dietetics student comes full circle

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Sarah Price, B.S.'14, recently returned to Kalamazoo to take a job at Bronson Methodist Hospital, the same place where she completed her first clinical nutrition experience as a senior at Western Michigan University. She will also began teaching the medical nutrition therapy lab course at Western this fall.

“As a senior dietetics student, I was fortunate enough to be able to spend time with a clinical dietitian at Bronson to learn about (intensive care unit) ICU and cardiovascular nutrition, create education handouts and present posters at local health expos, all of which I now do or have the opportunity to do as a clinical dietitian,” says Price. “What I learned during the medical nutrition therapy lab and the clinical rotation of my dietetic internship directly relates to the clinical work I have been doing for the last eight years. To be back at Bronson and teaching this course at Western, it feels like I have come full circle from student to clinical professional.”

Additionally, Price says the communication skills she gained from working as a resident assistant (RA) and orientation student leader (OSL), specifically conflict management and public speaking, still benefit her to this day. “I work closely with a medical team, a team of dietitians, and I work face-to-face with patients, which requires a significant amount of communication and teamwork,” she explains.

After graduating from Western, she moved to Ann Arbor for an internship at Michigan Medicine, which became her first full-time job as a clinical dietitian. She primarily worked with bone marrow transplant recipients and other hematology/oncology patients. Although it was challenging work, she says she loved the job.

In addition to her clinical work, Price drew on the research skills she gained in her undergrad program and was able to complete and publish a systematic review titled, “Body Composition Impacts Hematopoietic Stem Cell Outcomes in both Autologous and Allogeneic Transplants: A Systematic Review.”

Recently, she moved back to Kalamazoo because she says it feels like home to her, and she wants to be closer to family and  friends. Her favorite part of her new job is the team of dietitians she works with because they are smart, team oriented, motivated and fun, she adds.

Dietetics professors Dr. Arezoo Rojhani and Carline Webber shared that Price was a very strong student when she was enrolled in Western’s undergraduate program in nutrition and dietetics.

“We are delighted that Sarah will be rejoining our department, this time as an instructor with years of clinical experience she brings to the class,” says Rojhani.

“Students often especially like medical nutrition therapy lab because it's the first hands-on opportunity to start practicing tools of clinical dietetics with fellow classmates and, at that time, a face-to-face 'patient' nutritional assessment,” adds Webber. “Western staff volunteered for these wellness checks, both a great contribution to our program and useful health information for the volunteer.”

Price encourages students not to be afraid to go out of their comfort zone when applying to internships and first jobs related to their major.

“Never miss an opportunity for a job you would love! I almost didn't apply to the University of Michigan dietetic internship because I was intimidated by its reputation of being extremely rigorous, demanding and very hard to get in to; I wanted the clinical experience I knew the program entailed but I was worried I wouldn't get matched," she says. "Ultimately though, I was encouraged by my WMU professors and Bronson mentor to apply, and I knew that down the road I would always wonder 'what if' if I hadn't applied. Thankfully, I got matched and the rest is history!”

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