Page 2
Duke Hospital, InterGom
Duke Photo by Sparks
DIETETIC INTERNS at work on cycle menus. Menus are planned in four cycles:
spring, summer, fall and winter. Each set of menus within a cycle covers a five-week
period. Menus must be re-evaluated after use both for cost and for food combinations.
Use of cycle menus makes this re-evaluation more effective. Left to right: Carla Coulter,
Anne Richardson, Clara Baughner, Joan Re'nsko, Vivian Welk, Kate Mahood, Nancy
Clark, Diane Young, Jane Colclesser, Margery Curran.
another vortical unit- this one failed
a Siibveyor—to the dish room on the
frround floor. An attractive^ new
china, white with a blue dcsijrn, is in
use in this unit.
Wards not served hy the ti’ay as
sembly belt have decentralized service
from their own ward kitchens.
The teachiiifr profrram in the de
partment is under the supervision of
Miss Helen McLachlan, Associate Di-
re(‘tor of Dietetics.
For the dietetic interns in the
deiiartment, a year’s |)rorram is de-
sijined to develop a matur(\, ])rofes-
sional viewpoint and to ])rovide well-
rounded experience on a jrraduate
level. This dietetic internship had its
bejsiiuiiiif^s in the School of Dietetics
which opened with the Hospital in
1!)8(). It now demonstrates the many
aspects of a hospital dietitian’s work.
Under the jruidanee of a staff dietitian
the intern obtains experience in per
sonnel management, food service,
menu planning, purchasing and cost
control. Her background of diet
therapy must be expanded into a
■working knowledge of modified diets
to fit the patient’s need and conform
to the physician’s orders. She learns
Duke Photo by SparkH
ESTHER RATLIFF, Director of Dietetics.
A native of Kansas, Miss Ratliff received
her B.S. degree from Kansas State in 1931.
After an internship at Grasslands Hospital,
Valhalla, New York, and a period on the
staff there as Assistant Dietitian, she re
turned to the mid-west. She held posts
in hospitals in Duluth, Minn., Denver, Col.,
and Kansas City, Mo. This was followed
by nine years as Assistant Director of Nu
trition and Dietetics at the University of
Kansas Medical Center in her home state.
Miss Ratliff considered herself a dyed-in-
the-wool midwesterner with no idea of ever
gx)ing anywhere else. Then out of the blue
came the opening at Duke Medical Center.
She was appointed to her present position
September 1, 1957.
the special problems involved in plan
ning diets for children and the ]iroce-
dures used in the fornuda room. Ex
perience in the Out-Patient Depart
ment teaches the intern to guide pa
tients who are not hosi)italized in the
selection and i>reparation of their
food. She develops an appreciation
of tile cultural, social and ethnic in
fluences on food habits. Dietetic in
terns attend staff meetings so they
have first-hand knowledge of how a
de])artnient operates. Those who com-
])]cte the internship satisfactorily are
eligible for membership in the Amer
ican Dietetic Association. There are
ten Dietetic Interns at Duke Hospital
this year.
Administrative Interns spend one
week of observation in the Depart
ment ot Dietetics, and a dietitian
])articipates in their seminars.
At present, instruction of medical
students is limited to responses to
individual recjuests for help. It is
ho])(‘d that lat(’r it will be* possible
for a dietitian to mak(! staff rounds.
I his would offer an opportunity for
instruction ot botli medical and nurs
ing students.
An ini])ortant pha.se of dietetic
leaching is patient instruction. About
•iOO patients a month must receive in
struction in their special diets.
As more and more emj)hasis has
been placed on the imporlance of nu
trition in i)atient care, the Depart
ment ol Dietetics has taken an in
creasing part in the education of the
stiulent nurse. The aim of the De
partment is to develop a program
which will relate nutrition to all the
areas of the student nurse’s expe
rience. At present student nurses have
an orientation period in the Depart
ment of Dietetics; they learn to write
diets and cheek trays; they have an
observation period in the Out-Patient
Department to acquaint them with
the problems of teaching patients who
must be responsible for the selection