Technician Dietetic Research (rotating weekend)

Mass General Brigham relies on a wide range of professionals to advance our mission as a not-for-profit supporting patient care, research, teaching, and community service. We believe that high-performing teams drive groundbreaking medical discoveries and invite all applicants to join us.

About the role

Responsible for assisting the Dietitian in the provision of nutrition services to a broad patient population, including appropriate meals, between-meal nourishments, and special formulas required by each individual patient. This role supports research studies on the Translational & Clinical Research Centers (TCRC) under direct supervision of the Metabolism & Nutrition Research Director/Manager and within hospital and departmental guidelines.

Responsibilities

• Assists dietitian in the assessment of nutritional needs.
• Interviews patients to identify food preferences, allergies, and nutritional status.
• Assesses patient calorie counts, percentage of food consumed, conducts meal rounds, and monitors diet restrictions.
• Maintains pertinent records.
• Research participant meal/snack service:
  • Maintains daily meal board with updates throughout the day to communicate participant meal and snack requirements.
  • Assists research participants with menu selections and processes menus using a computerized menu system.
  • Demonstrates knowledge and skills necessary to provide age-appropriate (toddler to elder) nutrition care.
  • Prepares and serves meals and snacks to inpatient and outpatient research participants.
  • Manages tray delivery and pick-up.
  • Identifies and reports pertinent information from research participant contacts to research dietitian regarding food acceptance, preferences, and menu selections.
  • Assists in the development, including tasting, of recipes and meals according to research protocol specifications.
  • Monitors and documents food intake.
• Metabolic kitchen equipment:
  • Operates and maintains equipment according to manufacturer and unit standards for safety and sanitation (e.g., microbalance scale, gram scales, refrigerators, freezers, dish machine, electric stove top/oven, and miscellaneous small equipment).
  • Performs daily/weekly equipment calibration and documentation; reports deviations to Research Diet Technician Team Lead.
  • Monitors dish washer, refrigerator, and freezer temperatures; reports deviations to Research Diet Technician Team Lead.
  • Completes daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning of the metabolic kitchen while maintaining hospital and public health sanitation standards.
• Weighed meals:
  • Weighs, measures, prepares, labels, and stores all foods, beverages, and nutrient supplements using prescribed methods for the research diet and according to a specified meal plan.
  • Completes meal pack-outs for research participants to include all appropriate food items for all research meals.
  • Monitors and reinforces food intake for compliance to special meals and informs research dietitian of refusal; may need to re-weigh special foods.
  • Weighs research “products” that may include peanut flour, oat flour, milk powder, amino acids, or other “products.”
  • Maintains documentation of inventory for special food or research “products.”
• Metabolic kitchen food and supply inventory:
  • Completes standard food and non-food supply inventory and requisition; picks up food items/ingredients.
  • Monitors food quality including expiration date, temperature control, labeling, and storage.
  • Ensures that food and non-food supplies are available for next-day production.
• Assists research dietitians:
  • Under guidance of a research, registered dietitian (RD), supports participant flow, metabolic nutrition assessments, supply stocking, equipment cleanliness, visit set-up, and other assigned duties.
  • Completes data entry corrections of food and supplement intake.

Requirements

• High School Diploma or Equivalent required; Associate's Degree in Dietetics preferred.
• Dietetic Technician, Registered (DTR/NDTR) certification from the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) preferred.
• 1-2 years of dietetic technician experience with multiple patient populations preferred.

Skills

• Good communication skills.
• High level of service delivery.
• Attention to detail.
• Computer proficiency.

Schedule

• Rotating every third weekend (Saturday and Sunday - 8-10 hour shift).
• Additional hours during the week if needed (4-hour shift).

Pay

$18.30 - $26.58/hour.

Work Location: 55 Fruit Street, onsite.