My Summer Internship Experience
As I am approaching my third year at the University of Chicago with aspirations of becoming a registered dietitian, I am very focused on trying to decide what area of dietetics I would like to pursue. In wanting to gain some knowledge and direction, I was lucky enough to cross paths with Fuel For Life. For the latter half of my second-semester sophomore year, I was especially focused on trying to gain more experience to help shape my knowledge base.
Similar to most students, I was feeling some stress and anxiety surrounding my future career. I felt shaky in the path I was in because of the enormous amount of constant information being presented to me. I felt confident that nutrition was the field for me, though I also felt that my classes were not cutting it when it came to me feeling prepared for real-life experiences in the nutrition field. I applied for some other jobs and was looking around trying to find anything that would help me get an understanding of how to work with patients. Fate knew what it was doing when it sent me Fuel For Life. To say that I have benefited greatly from Fuel For Life is an understatement. Stephanie, Kara, Lauren, Laura, and many of their patients were kind enough to let me sit in on appointments, team meetings, and office hours. I truly feel that they all care about me and my path. Because I also have a passion for art, they allowed and trusted me in using my creativity in social media posts as well.
Stephanie and Lauren worked with me each week to teach me all about the differences between conventional medicine and functional medicine and allowed me to observe their methods in how they approach patients and their respective health issues. I have seen the team work so well together and watching them care about their patients deeply has been so inspiring. They are all true role models to me and have helped me grow greatly this summer.
Working with and observing the Fuel For Life team allowed me to see their passion for their patients. At each appointment, Kara, Lauren, Stephanie, and Laura would show up ready to listen and help with smiles on their faces. I loved how they all listened fully to what their patients were saying and individually addressed the concerns they all had. They would never brush them away and always did their best to explain the why behind symptoms and the why behind the treatment options they were suggesting. They always consulted with their patients when making these suggestions and always made sure each patient was comfortable with their new ‘action plan.’ Action plans were a summary of goals or implementations each patient would take with them to work on before meeting again. I absolutely LOVED how at the closing of appointments the team members would often ask “Is there anything else you feel that you need support with?” or “Are there any other concerns you would like to address?” They always made sure that no patient ended an appointment in confusion or uneasiness. I also find it so wonderful that along with nutrition support, Fuel For Life has Kara on as their mental health specialist. From simply listening to helping achieve little goals she is there! She does amazing work with patients to help them accomplish their goals and has great suggestions to help our mind-body connection in ways most people would never know.
Stephanie and Lauren are so knowledgeable in their field of functional medicine and nutrition. Outside of all of the nutrition counseling and using food as medicine they are well-versed in suggesting supplements as adjunct support and ordering and interpreting functional testing. They do wonderful work together to understand the markers behind tests, ingredients, and amounts in supplements, and how to recommend nutrition interventions and supplementation based on test results. The team always has your best interest at heart and always works to keep in mind your future goals.
Why I Love Functional Medicine
I stumbled on functional medicine practices a couple of years before interning with Fuel For Life this summer. The methods and the way naturopathic doctors go about diagnosing and treating patients have always been interesting to me. I have learned that functional medicine “gets to the true root cause” of the issue whereas many traditional medicine doctors work to simply manage symptoms. Functional medicine aims to understand and address what underlying imbalances may be present in one’s body. Once that understanding is gained, then healthcare providers can strategically work to help patients heal their bodies. The treatments are articulately put together and personalized. They range from lifestyle changes, nutrition changes, supplement adaptation, and other interventions all tailored to an individual’s specific needs. I found that functional medicine often uses tests to determine these imbalances, but also emphasized mental health. Functional medicine healthcare providers realize that mental health plays an essential role in the overall physical health of an individual. They realize that mental and physical health work together to promote the healthiest individual and note that the two are not separate from one another. Functional medicine goes so far as to address the individual’s genetic makeup, environment, lifestyle, past, and emotional well-being which leaves me feeling inspired and hopeful for the future of our healthcare system.
