PLACEMENT OF STUDENTS

 

 

POLICY:  Interns will be placed in practice sites in geographically convenient locations whenever possible

 

  1. Interns will be placed in practice sites which have already been approved whenever possible.

 

  1. Every effort to place our interns in appropriate facilities as close as possible to the geographic location requested by an applicant.

  2. Once the applications have been reviewed and the candidates who will be considered for ranking are chosen, the following process is initiated by the internship director:

    1. If an applicant is geographically located in an area where there is no approved practice site, the Internship Director will contact the appropriate Clinical Area Support Manager to determine availability of appropriate practice sites in the area.
       
    2. If it is determined that there are appropriate practice sites in the applicant’s geographic area, the Internship Director will contact the Food Service Manager and/or Clinical Nutrition Manager at the site to request the use of the site and staff for a practice site. 

    3. If there is no appropriate site in a requested geographic area, the internship director will notify the applicant of this fact and inform him/her of closest site available. 

    4. If the intern accepts the alternate location s/he will be left on the list of applicants to be ranked

    5. If the intern declines the alternate site, the application fee will be returned to the intern and s/he will be removed from the ranking list so that the intern can be matched to the next internship on the list.

 

  1. If the intern is matched to the program, the practice site will be notified.  A copy of the preceptor resource book will be sent to the practice site along with a contract to be signed and a request for information about the facility and preceptors’ resumes.  The Internship Director will conduct a phone conference with one or more of the preceptors at the site.  The Preceptor Resource Book will contain at least the following information

 

    1. Philosophy and Goals of the program
    2. Explanation of distance education
    3. Information regarding learning styles and development of learners
    4. Guidelines for giving feedback and evaluations
    5. Rotation description
    6. Pertinent evaluation forms
    7. A copy of the Internship Policy Book
    8. Contact information and web site address, including the password protected preceptor site.

 

  1. Whenever possible, within a month of an intern’s placement in a new practice site, the Internship Director will visit the site to review the competencies and evaluation forms and to answer any questions or concerns of the staff. 

 

  1. Additional visits will be made by the Internship Director as the need arises.  Otherwise regular phone contact will be made with the site preceptor as needed. 

 

  1. At the end of the rotation, the preceptors and intern will be asked to evaluate the site for continued use by future interns.

 

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

 

  1. Applicants to the Sodexo Distance Education Dietetic Internship who wish to complete an international experience will indicate this in a cover letter, and indicate what country or countries s/he is interested in.

  2. Internship Director will contact the internship liaison, the Group SVP for Marketing Research and Development for Sodexo Alliance, who will provide the appropriate contact for the country of interest. 

  3. Internship Director will contact this person to see if there is an appropriate placement for the food service management rotation in the area requested by the applicant.

  4. If it is determined that there are appropriate practice sites in the requested country, the Internship Director will contact the Food Service Manager at the site to request the use of the site and staff for a practice site. 

  5. If there is no appropriate site in a requested country, the internship director will notify the applicant of this fact and discuss any other options. 

  6. If the intern is matched to the program, the practice site will be notified.  A copy of the preceptor resource book will be sent to the practice site along with a contract to be signed and a request for information about the facility and preceptors’ resumes.  The Internship Director will conduct a phone conference with one or more of the preceptors at the site.  The Preceptor Resource Book will contain at least the following information

 

    1. Philosophy and Goals of the program
    2. Explanation of distance education
    3. Rotation description
    4. Description of leaning activities and assignments
    5. Suggested Timeline for activities
    6. Pertinent evaluation forms
    7. A copy of the Internship Policy Book
    8. Contact information and web site address, including the password protected preceptor site.

  1. During the rotation, the Internship Director will contact the preceptor through e-mail and/or phone to answer any questions and assure that program competencies are being met.

  2. Travel and housing arrangements must be made by the intern, with assistance from the site preceptor and internship director.