Calling all Registered Dietitians!
Laura and Courtney are two highly motivated, passionate students, pursuing their Masters in Public Health and Registered Dietitian degrees at UNC Chapel Hill. They are looking for registered dietitians around the country who would be interested in taking them on as interns next fall for their advanced placement internship experience. The internship will last 10 weeks (400 hours), but they have the flexibility to spend those ten weeks however they’d like, doing whatever work they find most interesting and educational based on their interests. The only major requirement is that they work under the supervision of a registered dietitian for those 400 hours.
While they both have similar career goals in promoting Paleo-style nutrition counseling to future clients, they also have their own unique interests in what they’d like to experience during their individual internships. Read on to learn more about what these ladies are looking for, and if you are interested in possibly working with them next year, feel free to give them a shout!
Laura Schoenfeld
I’m Laura, a 25 year old New Jersey native, and you may know me from my blog Ancestralize Me! I graduated from Gettysburg College in 2009 with a degree in Psychology, and in 2011, after taking two years off to travel for a year in Australia and take premed courses at a local community college, I started my graduate program at UNC. I’ve grown to love North Carolina and consider it my new home. I’m enjoying being active outdoors, hitting up live music, ‘hunting and gathering’ at the many amazing local farmers markets, and making sporadic trips to the beach when I can.
I got into nutrition as a career path mainly because I’ve been appalled at the dietary habits of most of my peers. I personally was raised on a Weston A. Price style diet, and after a few years of rebelling (and consequently gaining weight and losing energy), I finally realized the importance of good nutrition for health, fitness, and overall wellbeing. Once I realized how little my friends knew about nutrition, I found I had a strong passion for educating others about ‘real’ nutrition and not the low-fat, high carb, Food Pyramid garbage that we’d been taught since 3rd grade.
As I’ve developed my specific interests in nutrition, I’ve realized that I’m very interested in learning more about how nutrition therapy can be used to treat and prevent chronic conditions like autoimmune disease, food intolerances, hormonal dysregulation, fertility complications, psychological issues, thyroid and adrenal health, and cancer. I’d really enjoy working as part of a clinical team in an integrative or holistic medicine setting. It would be great to learn more about the major role nutrition plays in the treatment of those chronic conditions that majorly affect quality of life.
Ideally I’d like to stay in the Raleigh, North Carolina area, since I intend to start my life and career here after graduate school ends. However, I am flexible, and would possibly be interested in doing a short term (1-2 weeks) observational experience in any part of the country, and possibly even internationally.
You can contact me at [email protected]. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Courtney Locklear
Hi there! My name is Courtney, I’m 23 years old, and I’m Southern born and bred. My undergraduate background is in Exercise Science from Appalachian State University and I’ve also gotten my certification through ACSM as a health fitness specialist. I love being outside and being active, exercising, cooking, fishing, and yes, even hunting (no atlatl here though). I’m a new member of the Balanced Bites team, which I’m super excited about!
In the past, I’ve personally struggled with weight and other health issues related to a very poor quality diet. I’ve seen how hard it is to ‘go at it’ alone, so I think it’s critical to help people who are ready and eager for change. My current interests lie in the area of weight loss and overall optimization of health and performance in individuals of all levels; from pro athletes to couch potatoes. Because of my background, I don’t have experience with team sports, but it’s an area I would certainly be eager to work in.
As far as a geographic location, I would prefer to remain on the east coast if possible. I live in North Carolina now, so anywhere in this region would be tremendous! However, there are some other places I would definitely be open to traveling to such as Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, Texas, and even Colorado (because it’s just awesome!).
I do realize that many of the more progressive health professionals and organizations may not be specifically located in these areas of the country. However, since the Southeast is infamous for maintaining the highest levels of chronic diseases, there is a need for major improvements in nutrition in this area of the country. I hope that someone out there will be willing to ‘take me under their wing’ for this brief period of time, and I’m looking forward to the experience!
You can email me at: [email protected]
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