As a pesceterian, 朱莉JeBran who is a 临床营养学研究生 major, is the only person in her family who does not eat meat–only fish. One day Julie decided to make a vegetable soup with all of the same ingredients as a chicken noodle soup, 只是没有鸡肉.
“Every single person in my family, including my two-year old niece, seven-year old nephew and my very picky aunt, all ate the soup and were raving about it!朱莉自豪地说. 然而, when they asked her how she made it so flavorful without the meat, she had to admit that she had no idea. She had just added “whatever” she thought would work.
She developed a desire to experiment in the kitchen from her food 科学 course. “We’d be cooking and you’d see all the chemical reactions. You would just see the food do different things—or it wouldn’t do different things—and then you would taste it and it would taste totally different. ‘I didn’t know baking soda could do that!’”
When Julie finished the pre-requisite 本科 营养 courses, she immediately began the master’s program, which includes an internship. Immaculata’s 研究生 营养 program requires that students complete their internship in three key areas: clinical 营养, food service and 社区 营养. The Hospital of the University of 宾西法尼亚 was where Julie conducted her clinical internship. 除了宾夕法尼亚大学, she completed her food service internship at Cooper Hospital and enjoyed a wide variety of local 业务es and organizations for the 社区 营养 internship, 包括每各月, ShopRite商店, Upper Merion School District and Delaware Valley 退伍军人 健康.
“It’s a very well-rounded program where you get experience in all fields of 营养 but the most significant rotation is clinical,她说.
After completing all components of her internship and passing the dietetic exam, Julie became a registered dietitian in July.
Wagner College on Staten Island is a small college where Julie earned her 本科 degree. When researching colleges to pursue a master’s degree in 营养, she sought a similar environment. Drawn by Immaculata’s status as one of the few colleges in the area offering a master’s degree inclusive of the internship, 朱莉登记. When she visited campus and met with her advisor, Cecil Adkins, Ed.D., R.D.N., L.D.N., didactic program director and assistant professor for Nutrition & Dietetics, she immediately felt comfortable. Julie feels that every faculty member does everything in his/her power to help students succeed, and the stakes are high for students like Julie who give up their jobs to study full time. She found encouragement in the fact that Immaculata has 90 years of experience teaching 营养 majors.
Outside of her traditional studies, Julie gained valuable hands-on experience as a research assistant for 研究生 Nutrition Program Director Qian Jia, Ph.D., RD, LDN, who was conducting a 社区 study called Food Matters. This study addressed food insecurity and heart health problems faced by many families in Chester, 宾西法尼亚. According to data from Feeding America, 30 to 40% of people living in Chester are food-insecure.
“Julie is an exceptional student who truly appreciates the role of a dietician and the people she serves,贾分享道.
As she finishes her final class, Julie now realizes the value of each assignment and focus on research.
“It has prepared me in so many ways, because what we were talking and learning about was always relevant to current events and happenings in the 营养 field,朱莉说. “Once I started my internship, it really was beneficial to have all this knowledge, not just the basics of 营养—but to be able to pull from the literature and say, “哦,是的, I’ve learned about this and how it related to so-and-so disease.’”
As Julie 关闭s in on the completion of her degree, she is looking forward to helping improve people’s health through proper 营养.