Mollee Brummond | Future Allied Health Professional

Methodist Hospital | Room Service Ambassador | Paid

As a Room Service Ambassador (RSA), my primary responsibility was delivering meals to patients across one or two assigned hospital floors. After patients placed their orders, the tray line would assemble most of the meal. I would then review the ticket and gather any remaining items like hot drinks or cold items to ensure the tray was complete. With a cheerful attitude, I would deliver meals to patients, assist with opening containers if needed, and return used trays to the kitchen for cleaning. Each floor also had daily kitchen duties assigned, which I completed as part of my shift.

Many patients were prescribed supplements by clinical dietitians, so I delivered high-protein or high-calorie shakes at designated times. These supplements often included Fairlife Core Power Elite shakes or in-house shakes made with two scoops of the patient’s chosen ice cream and whole milk.

Certain health conditions required specific nursing protocols. For example, diabetic patients sometimes needed a nurse's approval before receiving their meals, while patients with dysphagia were served modified-consistency trays that only nurses were permitted to deliver. Meals for patients in isolation—due to infectious illness or cancer treatment—also had to be left outside the room.

QLI | Nutrition Services Volunteer | Community Service

Volunteering at QLI has been one of the most meaningful and educational experiences in my journey toward becoming a registered dietitian. Thanks to the generosity of Stephanie, the Director of Nutrition Services and a registered dietitian, I had the opportunity to shadow and assist with nutrition-related activities. I observed intake nutrition assessments for new rehabilitation patients and sat in on interdisciplinary meetings discussing patient care. It was exciting to see classroom concepts brought to life.

Another valuable learning experience was shadowing speech-language pathologists, particularly in their work with dysphagia. This helped me understand how dietitians and speech therapists collaborate on patient care plans.

Much of my time at QLI was spent supporting the kitchen staff. These staff members make up an essential part of the nutrition care team. Food service workers are truly on the front lines, carrying out dietitian-ordered meal plans to help patients meet their nutritional goals. I helped with ingredient prep for daily and weekend meals, assisted with meal deliveries to the lower campus, and contributed to end-of-shift kitchen cleaning. Being in the kitchen gave me a hands-on appreciation for the connection between food service and patient health outcomes.

My time at QLI was unforgettable, blending community service with clinical exposure. I gained valuable insight into dietetics, learned from an incredible team, and was inspired by the resilience of the patients and the mission of this Omaha-based facility.

Volunteer Log - QLI- Click to View

Date	Hours	Activity
6/2/2025	7	Viewed 3 nutrition assessments; helped kitchen staff
6/4/2025	3	Helped kitchen staff
6/9/2025	7	Viewed 1 nutrition assessment; helped kitchen staff
6/12/2025	3	Chatted about dietitian's experience; observed meeting between dietitian and medical provider; helped kitchen staff
6/19/2025	3	Helped kitchen staff
6/23/2025	3	Helped kitchen staff
6/26/2025	3	Shadowed speech therapy; observed emergency meeting regarding a feeding tube patient
6/30/2025	7	Helped kitchen staff; viewed 2 nutrition assessments; shadowed speech therapy
7/3/2025	3	Helped kitchen staff
7/7/2025	7	Helped kitchen staff
7/10/2025	3	Helped kitchen staff; meeting with dietitian
7/14/2025	7	Helped kitchen staff; observed adaptive fitness session

Nebraska Medicine | Cancer Clinic Volunteer | Community Service

At the Nebraska Medicine Cancer Clinic, I had a consistent set of weekly responsibilities that focused on cleanliness, assisting patients with navigation, and administrative tasks. A key task was disinfecting the high traffic areas like waiting area, front desk, checkout stations, and patient intake rooms to help minimize infection risk.

I also supported patient intake by rotating clipboards from the nursing stations to the check-in desks, where I replaced them with clean forms and fresh paperwork. This helped keep the patient flow smooth and hygienic.

My administrative responsibilities included refilling copy machines throughout the back offices and assembling patient welcome packets. These packets typically included OneChart login instructions, privacy rights, and additional clinic information.

Occasionally, I escorted patients in wheelchairs to the lobby or helped direct them to other parts of the hospital. These moments gave me the chance to interact directly with patients and contribute to a welcoming clinic environment.

Volunteer Log - Nebraska Medicine - Click to View

Date	Hours
1/15/2025	1.9
1/22/2025	2
2/5/2025	2
2/19/2025	2
2/26/2025	2
3/12/2025	2
3/26/2025	1.5
4/2/2025	2
4/9/2025	2
4/16/2025	2
4/23/2025	2
4/30/2025	2
5/21/2025	2
6/4/2025	1.75
6/11/2025	1.75
6/18/2025	2
6/25/2025	2
7/2/2025	1.6

Other

I assisted local dietitian Jessica of Positive Nutrition Omaha this summer with preparation for one of her cooking classes. Unfortunately, I was unable to help with the physical class, but I helped with the preparatory work. This included typing up a final copy of her recipes for the class with her company logo on the page and creating a shopping list. She also needed me to do research on gluten-free hoisin sauce options.

Cell Biology

We worked with HT-29 cancer cells to learn cell-based biology lab techniques such as the aseptic technique with a vertical laminar flow hood, how to subculture cells, fluorescent staining with DAPI and Texas Red, use of inverted phase-contrast microscope, EVOS digital microscope, cell cryogenics with DMSO, two cytotoxicity assays (Trypan Blue and Alamar Blue), and qPCR.

The skills we learned were applied to a capstone project that involved designing a drug-related cytotoxicity project to determine its IC50 and effects on gene expression. My group chose caffeine, where we found that rather an an inhibiting effect on our cancer cells, it had an enhancing effect. Feel free to view our results paper by looking for it via the portfolio tab above.

Microbiology

My microbiology class improved brightfield microscope experience, especially with the use of the oil immersion lens. Here we learned to culture bacteria cells by inocculation of slant tubes and agar plates. Aseptic technique for innoculating was essential to avoid contamination. We learned classic micriobiology tests like the Gram stain, and biochemical tests like catalase, oxidase, carbohydrade fermentation, gelatin hydrolysis, and citrate tests. Throughout the semester, there was a capstone project that involved determining the bacterial strain of an unidentified microorganism (UMO). Mine turned out to be the symbiotic bacteria Staphylococcus epidermidis. Other unique experiments included transformation of E. coli into a glow in the dark strain using GFP on a plasmid, as well as a gel electorphoresis experiement.

General Chemistry

Over the course of two semester, important chemistry-related lab skills were learned, but it was mostly the second semester lab that provided valuable measuring and titration skills. Precise measuremenkts of volumes were done using volumetric flasks and pipettes. By the second semester, my volumetric pipette skills greatly increased. Probably three-quarters of our experiments involved titrations. They were used to standardize titrants that would later be used to determine concentrations of uknown analyte concentrations. Statistics played a large role in analyzing titration data and determining concentrations.

We used High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) twice to determine unknown concentrations of caffeine and acetaminophen. For the caffeine lab, we also used HPLC to compare the machine's value of caffeine to the manufacturer's claim for a chosen caffeine drink.

Planned Course Lab Experience

Fall 2025: Molecular Microbiology and Organic Chemistry

Spring 2025: Comparative Immunology

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

Student Member (2023-Present)

This is the national professional organization for food and nutrition experts (and students in the field). It allows members to engage in evidence-based nutrition education and network with peers and dietetic professionals.

INBRE Journal Club

Student Member (2025-Present)

This club brings students and biology professors together to pick apart and interpret research papers. The theme for the 2025 Spring semester was the circadian rhythm. The papers we read related to the impact of circadian rhythm studies and their affect on various body systems.