Hi, my name is Anastasija. I’m MSc Dietetics student at Manchester Metropolitan University and I got Salford Royal Hospital for my second 10-week placement.
From the first day of my placement at Salford Royal, I was warmly welcomed and supported by everyone, which made me feel like I was part of their team for a long time. I can not express how grateful I am for the support and guidance I received from my practise educators, supervisor and the rest of the team. They managed to share their knowledge and skills and contribute to my development as a student dietitian. Being on my third placement, I can feel how placement at Salford has significantly contributed to my current performance, knowledge and skills.
I managed to enhance my skills and knowledge in different conditions and medications, calculating requirements and intake, creating feeding regime and has a significant exposure to enteral and parenteral nutrition in general. My knowledge was also improved by regular tutorials on various topics, which I particularly found very useful. I was exposed to various aspects of the dietetics, including critical care, diabetes, gastro, neuro, community, renal, which was particularly important to understand the speciality that I was enjoying as well as the one I had less interest in. My practice educators were also happy to adjust my timetable according to my speciality preferences, which created a sense of being heard and cared for.
I appreciate the support, positivity, inclusiveness, and commitment to valuing a person beyond their student performance. I believe such an environment like in Salford Royal should be fostered in every hospital to support students on a placement and inspire them to apply for job there in the future.