Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Dietetics graduate to complete internship at Vanderbilt
Lindsey VanDoornik and other members of the Food and Nutrition Student Organization volunteered to weed the strawberry patch at Seton Harvest, a community-supported agricultural program on New Harmony Road in Evansville.
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Betty Vawter Senior Editor, News & Information Services 812/480-1873 Vanderbilt's Dietetic Internship Program, established in 1929, is one of the oldest and most recognized programs of its kind in the nation. VanDoornik will complete more than 1,200 hours of clinical experience, making her eligible to take the national registration exam for dieticians. The dietetics track (one of three tracks in USI's food and nutrition program) was accorded Candidacy for Accreditation last year by the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education. VanDoornik will begin the 10-month program at Vanderbilt along with 15 other interns from throughout the country in mid-August. She and a Purdue graduate are the only participants selected from the state of Indiana. The interns will work alongside hospital dieticians and will provide nutrition programming in community-based settings, such as school systems. Long captivated by science, VanDoornik developed an interest in running and healthy lifestyles. The combination propelled her to pursue the major in food and nutrition offered by the College of Nursing and Health Professions. "I started running, and then I thought I would eat healthier," she said. "I began learning on my own about healthy ways of eating and healthy lifestyles. That made me think maybe this was something I could do as a career." VanDoornik ran the Evansville Half Marathon in October last year and the Southern Indiana Classic Half Marathon in April of this year. She said several interns in the Vanderbilt program already are planning to run the Country Music Marathon and Half Marathon together next April. VanDoornik has taken advantage of a number of opportunities outside the classroom setting to learn about careers in food and nutrition. Since October 2009, she has worked at Mead Johnson Nutritionals as a laboratory technician in the Global Research and Development Department. Her supervisor is Bolivar Cevallos, principal product development scientist. He teaches the food science course in the food and nutrition program as an adjunct instructor. "Working with nutritional products and seeing everything that goes into baby formulas and supplemental formulas for children is fascinating," she said. "I have learned more about the nutritional needs of babies and children. The work also has improved my understanding of the organization of data and the research process." VanDoornik has shadowed dieticians at St. Mary's Medical Center and Select Specialty Hospital in Evansville. The shadowing opportunity included learning about the work of a dietician who cares for bariatric patients. "I've always been drawn to the weight-loss area," she said, "but I could go into my internship and find that I'm just as interested in another area." VanDoornik worked one summer as a counselor at Wellspring Camps, a weight-loss program for girls in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Her duties included serving as a nutrition instructor. "I started with 'what is a carbohydrate,'" she said, "and moved on to topics such as choosing food from a menu." In spring 2008, VanDoornik studied in the United Kingdom. She traveled to Spain, Ireland, France, and Italy during her semester abroad. VanDoornik was president in 2010-11 of the Food and Nutrition Student Organization. Recently members volunteered at Seton Harvest, a community-supported agricultural program sponsored by the Daughters of Charity. Her campus involvement includes membership in the Honors Program, Student Ambassadors, Gamma Phi Beta sorority, and Model United Nations. She was the recipient of the John Lee and Lupheba F. Newman Presidential Scholarship. She is included in Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. VanDoornik is the daughter of Alan and Laurel VanDoornik of Evansville. She is a graduate of Reitz Memorial High School. |
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