DALLAS: One Bite at a Time: Cardiovascular Center

4/4/11-4/8/11

I spent the week working with exercise physiologists, physical therapists, and a registered dietitian in the cardiac rehabilitation program at the Texas Health Dallas Finley Ewing Cardiovascular & Fitness Center. I was the first dietetic intern to ever go through it so I got to help plan out the schedule for the next lucky interns.

Cardiac rehab is a progressive program with a goal of helping patients restore and maintain optimal health while helping to reduce the risk of future heart problems. Sessions take place on Mon, Wed, and Fri and each patient gets a personalized exercise prescription, education, and lifestyle-modification programs. To qualify for the program patients have to have certain heart conditions or have gone through specific procedures like coronary artery bypass graft, heart transplant, angioplasty, among others. On Wednesday I was with the cardiac rehab dietitian. We did a few assessments on some rehab participants. I also sat in on her two classes about label reading and healthy cooking.

On Thursday the interns got a tour of the US Foodservice warehouse in Garland, TX. It is where Presby gets billions of dollars worth of food from every year. I couldn't believe all the food that was there. There were fork lifts driving around up and down the aisles. We got to walk into the giant freezer, but thankfully we didn't stay long. Afterwards me and some of the interns stopped to take pictures in the Bluebonnets.

On Friday I did follow-ups on the cardiac patients. I checked up on them to see if they accomplished the goals that they established with the dietitian. If they did I gave them some other goals to work on. Friday night, intern Megan and I were thirsty after a long week of work so we went for a walk and stopped at a few bars along the way. We took the scenic route on the way back and Megan wanted to check out this small lake from the dock. The dock was not attached to land however and Megan was knee deep in smelly muck.

Saturday, all the interns spent the day at the Fort Worth Zoo together. We had a great time together and took lots of fun pictures. After the zoo, Megan and I stayed in Fort Worth to visit her friend and spend the night out on the town. Sunday, we got breakfast and I participated in trying on bridesmade dresses with them.