Internship 2015 - German Nutrition Society

I'm interning three months at the German Nutrition Society's department for further education in Bonn.

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Interview with Dr. Ute Brehme

Dr. Ute Brehme is talking about how she got to work for the German Nutrition Society (DGE) and about her future goals.

This is my final post. Thank you for following and please enjoy the interview.

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Knowledge and Skills Acquired

Source: http://www.doceo.co.uk/reflection/rrr.htm

I got more critical, more perfectionist, and more accurate in my way of working. Further, I feel more confident about asking questions and about addressing uncertainties towards my colleagues. I also learned how to interact with seminar participants, what it takes to create a successful seminar, and how to please the participants. I got acquainted with the German, Austrian and Suisse reference values for the nutrient intake and with the quality standards within instutionalised catering, e.g. school canteens, hospitals. The problematic quality management when it comes to being a nutritionist in Germany became a topic of a great interest for me. It is not comprehensible why responsible persons do not react to assure the quality of a certified nutritionist. My internship host Dr. Ute Brehme is a great advocate within this area and I am looking forward to the progress she is going to achieve in the future.

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Career Inspiration

During my internship I met many nutritionists who are counsellors or who work at the German Nutrition Society (DGE). Most of them have either a background in oecotrophology (nutrition science) or are educated as dieticians.

I realised that I am neither into counselling nor would I like to work within the department for further education in the future due to the great focus on educating adults. I rather would see myself working in the science or project department where recent studies about nutrition are investigated and different projects initiated by the federal ministry of food and agriculture (BMEL) are planned and executed. Working at the DGE makes me realise that I am more comfortable within an international environment. I think my study programme ‘Global Nutrition and Health’ really shaped me in regards to acknowledging a variety of cultures.

Through this internship I discovered that I am more interested in health prevention within a broader context and not only focussing on nutrition. Of course it is an important part of our health. Nevertheless, many other factors, such as the environment, influence our nutrition patterns. Therefore, I aspire to have a future in an institution where I can work within a multicultural team and with global topics influencing our health.

For now I am attending three coaching sessions done by one of my colleagues together with two other interns where we aim to find out more about ourselves and future goals.

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How to become a certified nutritionist at the German Nutrition Society?

The term “nutritionist” is not protected in Germany. Therefore, anyone who is interested in working in this field can do so, although there may be legal consequences if the person has not absolved a study programme about nutrition, health or medicine and nevertheless starts consulting clients.   That is why the German Nutrition Society (DGE) among others developed a certification system where interested people with the relevant background can become a legal nutritionist.

The nutritionist course from the German Nutrition Society is for nutritional experts interested in qualifying for a quality assured nutrition consultancy. The title “nutritionist/DGE (Ernährungsberater,in/DGE)” is recognised as a provider qualification according to the “Prevention guideline. Action fields and criteria of the statuary health insurances central association for the implementation of §§20 and 20a fifth social security statute book” (June 21st 2000, 10th December 2014 version).

Certificate requirements: - Job / studies according to the nutritionist/DGE curriculum - Proof of the four required modules → Malnutrition, IT based nutritional calculation, sociology of nutrition, nutrition survey methodology → All in all 12 modules are required - Proof of presence phase - Passed exams There are three ways to become a certified DGE nutritionist: 1.&2. Extra occupational and compact → two exams during the presence phase → oral exam at the end of the presence phase 3. Intensive → written examination - Exams for all three possibilities: → Project → Video supported micro teaching about individual and group counselling

To maintain the certification one has to proof 50 points of continuing qualification every three years.

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Nutrition Sociology Seminar

Experiencing food in a different way - This was one topic of the seminar taught by Professor Brombach in the beginning of July here at the German Nutrition Society, Bonn. Participants had closed eyes while trying different foods. Professor Brombach tried to trick their mind by telling wrong facts about the tasted foods, e.g. that the spaghetti would be a dead insect. You can obtain further information by clicking on the pictures.

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To be informed about diseases and their treatment the U.S. govenment set up a database of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines- AHRQ’s National Guideline Clearinghouse. In Germany we have the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies (AWMF) providing around 750 guidelines informing about scientific medicine, medical research, and classifications. Both websites are updated regularly.

It is a really useful source to get deeper insights into pathogenesis as well as disease management.

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Learning Objectives

Half of my internship period passed by already. Therefore, I would like to reflect on my learning objectives.

Learning objective 1: Get an insight into the working structure of the German Nutrition Society (DGE).

Visiting every department of the DGE ✔ (in progress)

Interviewing staff to find out different working practices ✔ (in progress)

Reading and understanding current reports if the DGE ✔ (in progress)

Learning objective 2: Strengthen organisational skills, computer literacy, analytical and evaluating skills.

Organising seminars for nutritionists ✔

Creating attendance certificates ✔

Analysing evaluation sheets, multiple choice questionnaires ✔

Learning objective 3: Develop and deepen competencies to conduct up-to-date research and to answer relevant scientific questions.

Conducting up-to-date research, e.g. in PubMed - To answer questions from colleagues, own interests ✔ (regularly)

Learning objective 4: Attain knowledge about nutrition programmes and the general health and nutrition situation in Germany.

Conducting research about nutrition programmes/projects ✔ (in progress)

Analysing these programmes/projects ✔ (in progress)

Reading the nutrition report 2012 (released: every 4 years) ✔

Write a summary of nutrition report ✔

Learning objective 5: Learn (how) and develop multiple choice questionnaires for the seminars. ✔

Learning objective 6: Get an overview about oecotrophology programmes. ?

Learning objective 7: Get information about the availability of statuary health insurances                 and what they cover. ?

Learning objective 8: Develop a bachelor thesis project.

Finding out the bachelor thesis topic ✔

Consulting with internship host and college supervisor ✔ (in progress)

Following guidelines for writing a bachelor thesis ✔ (in progress)

Conducting own quantitative and qualitative research ✔ (in progress)

Bold = changes; ✔ = done; ? = other objectives have higher priority

For now I am trying to focus more on my bachelor thesis topic. I am collecting a lot of data in form of reports and guidelines and plan to look further into what kind of theoretical as well as practical methodology I am going to use.

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Click on the picture for further information.

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Who is working in the German Nutrition Society?

The team in my department is very out-going, confident, and friendly. They know about current nutrition trends, guidelines, as well as didactics. This is definitely an advantage as they interact most of the time with people – when preparing and organising workshops as well as when answering inquiries. Frequently asked questions are for example whether someone is eligible to enter the course to become a professional nutritionist. The team consists of nutritionists (background in oecotrophology or nutritional sciences) and dieticians.   Since I started the internship, I have learned to work accurately and concentrated with open doors. If your door is closed it means you are having a private conversation, otherwise everyone is welcome to stop by. Further, I increased my patience and communication skills. Asking questions about tasks and duties are always welcome. It is better to clarify things before having to do something all over again.  

It is a great and welcoming atmosphere within this department and I am looking forward to the following two months.

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Diabetes Seminar and Nutritionist Accreditation 

I took part in a seminar about diabetes type 1 and 2 therapy. WHO projects that numbers of diabetes (especially type 2) cases are rising. Therefore, there is a need for more preventive measures as well as better therapies.

The German Nutrition Society wants to ensure the quality of already accredited nutritionists. Nutritionists are asked for a specific amount of points within three years earned through taking part in seminars, e-learning modules, workshops, and congresses. I have been completing tables in Excel to assure that requirements are being fulfilled.

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Rachel Olsen experiencing a diet plan at her internship “Healthy Box Diet Catering” in Jakarta, Indonesia.

THE FOOD IS AMAZING! 

Its been a few days since i have been on the healthybox diet plan and I am surprised on how delicious and different the food is everyday. It is very hard though, for breakfast they give us a really small portion that it made me quite dizzy in the morning. Its a lot better now that i drink so much water and am now used to it. Being on this diet in Jakarta is super challenging because there is cheap delicious food being sold everywhere. My work place is also located in an area with many food markets. You can buy a big portion of many different Indonesian dishes for 5-10 Kroner! 

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First impressions of week one: 

I met all my colleagues from the different departments, did already some smaller tasks, such as preparing a seminar as well as some research, and I found out my bachelor thesis topic. The department for further education offers seminars for dieticians. I will also get the opportunity to take part in two seminars with the topics “Malnutrition” and “Therapy of Diabetes Type 1 and 2”.  

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A short introduction about me and my internship at the German Nutrition Society starting from tomorrow.

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A picture of Bonn the former capital of Germany and the city where my internship place is situated.