The summer is flying by! Hope everyone has been enjoying their practicum experience so far.

I have been working on developing a group nutrition class for post-transplant recipients at Tufts Medical Center (TMC) this summer.  This will be a pilot program because we have never offered anything like this before.  I started my experience by doing lots of research and gathered some data on nutrition-related issues amongst this population, including those who are followed at TMC.  I also spoke with the team and inquired about what issues they thought should be addressed.

For some background, immunosuppression medication is needed for most transplant recipients to avoid rejection after getting a new organ, however the medications come with a host of side effects.  These side effects can range from hyperlipidemia, HTN, weight gain, osteoporosis and diabetes as well as other electrolyte abnormalities. Therefore, nutrition and a healthy lifestyle are very important to help combat these potential side effects.

I will be running group classes on 3 different dates to accommodate a variety of clinics/schedules.  The first class will kick off tomorrow and the other 2 will be next week.  I sent flyers in the mail about a month ago to those who received a kidney or heart transplant recipient at TMC over the last 2-2.5 years; there was a total of 160 letters sent out.  Additional flyers were posted in several clinics and doctors were given extra copies of the flyers, as well as a brief explanation of what the class objectives were.  I asked patients to RSVP but also mentioned showing up would be acceptable so it’s hard to anticipate how many people will be coming!  As of now, I have 8 people confirmed for 8/7.

The class will focus on short and long term diet goals, food safety tips, immunosuppression medication and their side effects as well as tips on how to manage/prevent these side effects.  There will be a pre and post test so I can evaluate how successful the class was as well as get feedback from participants.  Hoping the first class goes well tomorrow… wish me luck!

The summer is flying by! Hope everyone has been enjoying their practicum experience so far.

I have been working on developing a group nutrition class for post-transplant recipients at Tufts Medical Center (TMC) this summer.  This will be a pilot program because we have never offered anything like this before.  I started my experience by doing lots of research and gathered some data on nutrition-related issues amongst this population, including those who are followed at TMC.  I also spoke with the team and inquired about what issues they thought should be addressed.

For some background, immunosuppression medication is needed for most transplant recipients to avoid rejection after getting a new organ, however the medications come with a host of side effects.  These side effects can range from hyperlipidemia, HTN, weight gain, osteoporosis and diabetes as well as other electrolyte abnormalities. Therefore, nutrition and a healthy lifestyle are very important to help combat these potential side effects.

I will be running group classes on 3 different dates to accommodate a variety of clinics/schedules.  The first class will kick off tomorrow and the other 2 will be next week.  I sent flyers in the mail about a month ago to those who received a kidney or heart transplant recipient at TMC over the last 2-2.5 years; there was a total of 160 letters sent out.  Additional flyers were posted in several clinics and doctors were given extra copies of the flyers, as well as a brief explanation of what the class objectives were.  I asked patients to RSVP but also mentioned showing up would be acceptable so it’s hard to anticipate how many people will be coming!  As of now, I have 8 people confirmed for 8/7.

The class will focus on short and long term diet goals, food safety tips, immunosuppression medication and their side effects as well as tips on how to manage/prevent these side effects.  There will be a pre and post test so I can evaluate how successful the class was as well as get feedback from participants.  Hoping the first class goes well tomorrow… wish me luck!