This week I was honored to be invited into the home of Neva Cochran, MS, RD, LD. Neva is a very experienced and well known nutrition communications consultant. Her current clients are Woman's World Magazine, Maximum Fitness Magazine, the Egg Nutrition Center, and the Corn Refiners Association. She is also very involved in the media, taking part in roughly 800 magazine, newspaper, radio, and television interviews about nutrition. It is an exciting career that is something I would love to do some day.
I spent the majority of Monday working on a meal plan for Maximum Fitness Magazine. The theme was Savor the Flavors of Summer. I had to come up with 2 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 3 dinners, 2 snacks, and 2 shakes emphasizing fresh produce of summer and minimum amount of time in the kitchen.
Tuesday was a 'work from home' day so I went to the hospital bright and early to be productive. 
On top of all of the rotation assignments, us interns also have to do an administrative project. My partner, Anna (pictured left), and I are doing our project on Isensix remote temperature monitoring. It includes making sure all the monitors and systems are working correctly, writing department policy, in-servicing staff on how to do the monitoring, and doing a final write-up and presentation. The system was set up in early 2009 but hasn't been used and since then a lot of the freezers and coolers have been moved around or put into storage so we had to go hunt for them. Tuesday we had to go collect monitors off of 10 units that are not in use. It doesn't sound like a physical job, but it was...I shed blood. We had to move speed racks and heavy equipment out of the way to get to the monitors, climb on ladders, cut zip ties, and touch yucky dusty cords. I'm glad all that's out of the way. For Neva, I worked on completing several reading assignments and finishing the meal plan. Neva picked 19 foods from the meal plan that I had to find interesting facts on.
On top of all of the rotation assignments, us interns also have to do an administrative project. My partner, Anna (pictured left), and I are doing our project on Isensix remote temperature monitoring. It includes making sure all the monitors and systems are working correctly, writing department policy, in-servicing staff on how to do the monitoring, and doing a final write-up and presentation. The system was set up in early 2009 but hasn't been used and since then a lot of the freezers and coolers have been moved around or put into storage so we had to go hunt for them. Tuesday we had to go collect monitors off of 10 units that are not in use. It doesn't sound like a physical job, but it was...I shed blood. We had to move speed racks and heavy equipment out of the way to get to the monitors, climb on ladders, cut zip ties, and touch yucky dusty cords. I'm glad all that's out of the way. For Neva, I worked on completing several reading assignments and finishing the meal plan. Neva picked 19 foods from the meal plan that I had to find interesting facts on. Wednesday I watched DVDs of Neva in many different interviews throughout her career to learn about the proper techniques while doing an interview. Next I received two research articles to summarize for Woman's World. A major part of Neva's job is to take complex scientific information and put it into words that the general public will understand. This task was quite a 
challenge, but it is something that takes practice. Neva asked me if I would be interested in helping her with a reception she would be having at her house the day before. So at 3:30 we started prepping, about 40 people were expected to show up. To prepare for the party, I made a hummus vegetable dip and plated cheese, cookies, and sandwiches. During the party I served water, iced tea, and wine to her friendly guests and took a group picture. Say Cheese! I was done by 7:30.
challenge, but it is something that takes practice. Neva asked me if I would be interested in helping her with a reception she would be having at her house the day before. So at 3:30 we started prepping, about 40 people were expected to show up. To prepare for the party, I made a hummus vegetable dip and plated cheese, cookies, and sandwiches. During the party I served water, iced tea, and wine to her friendly guests and took a group picture. Say Cheese! I was done by 7:30.Thursday was a very busy day. Once again, I went to the hospital to do my work because if I stayed home I would be too distracted. I finished up the food facts for the Maximum Fitness article, wrote up the two research summaries, answered questions from a Today Show interview that took place 5 years ago, and wrote the key messages for my mock interviews. Intern class was from 2-4 about the North Texas Food Bank. I stayed at the hospital until 6:45 to finish assignments. My goal was to be done before CSI =)
Friday was the day of mock interviews. I picked two topics of my choice: home canning and gout. Then Neva interviewed me about them. I was pretty nervous before we started because I had no idea what she was going to ask me. I tried to use techniques for giving good interviews like bridging, hooking, and flagging. Luckily I picked topics that I am fairly familiar with. The interviews took less than 5 minutes a piece. I did better than I did in class a couple weeks ago, but I still need a lot of practice. It was an awesome learning experience. I would love to have an exciting career and be as accomplished as her some day. I was done by noon and then went to the hospital until 7 pm to finish up some assignments from past rotations. They were starting to creep up on me.
Here is Neva's website: http://www.nevacochranrd.com/
It was a pleasure having you work with me, Amber. You did great job!! Neva
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