Internships Home

International Experience

"Teaching is not

the filling of a pail

but the lighting

of the fire."

~

William Butler Yeats

~

APPLICATION MATERIALS

  Selection Criteria

  Application Checklist

  Application Form

  Recommendation
  Form

Contact Us

Orientation: 64 hours. 8 days. Orientation will take place at the beginning of the program in New England.  Orientation will be held for eight straight days, starting with a Sunday and ending the following Sunday.  This will allow you to complete this portion of the program with  minimal time away from work and family.   Orientation classes are designed to prepare you to begin working independently as soon as possible in each rotation.  See our General Information Page for more specific information about orientation and class week.

Class Week: Class Time:  24 hours, 3 days.  This will take place in a location and time decided on by the interns and internship staff.  The remainder of the class hours we will be using computer based on-line classes utilizing our chat room.  See our General Information Page for more specific information about orientation and class week.

Clinical: 400 hours. 50 days. This consists of hospital based experience, where you will learn assessment, counseling, and education skills with a variety of patients and disease states.  You will be expected to perform with increasing competence and independence through the course of the rotation, so that you will be able to provide staff relief at the conclusion of this rotation.  This rotation may be completed at one or more facilities depending on the acuity of patients and your individual interests.  You will provide 10-15 days of staff relief for dietitians in your assigned practice site after successful completion of the clinical rotation. 

Clinical Specialty: 40 hours. 5 days.  You may choose a specialized clinical area such as critical care, renal, psychiatric, or pediatric nutrition.  Other specialty rotations may be arranged with theprogram director.  Choice of specialty rotations may be limited by your geographic location and availability of practice sites. This is part of your clinical rotation.

Food Service Management: 240 hours. 30 days.  You will learn how a foodservice operation functions and will begin to develop management skills through observation and practice.  40 of these hours will be in patient services, generally at the clinical site.  The majority of our interns complete their main food service management rotation at one of our corporate dining sites.  This gives interns an opportunity to experience management in a non-healthcare setting.

Community: 200 hours. 25 days.  You will spend time in a variety of community settings.  Specific experiences will be planned with you based on your interests  and availability of services in the geographic area.   You will become familiar with the variety of community and public health opportunities available and will gain proficiency in providing nutrition counseling and education in an outpatient or community setting, with both individuals and groups.  You will spend 40 hours working with children, 40 hours with adults, and 40 hours with seniors.  The remainder of your community hours will be working with populations of your choice

Long Term Care: 40 hours. 5 days.  You will participate in providing nutrition care for residents of a long term care facility or subacute unit.   You will become familiar with the procedures and forms that are required by state and federal mandates.

Concentration:  160 hours. 20 days.  You will choose an area of concentration based on your individual interests and career goals.  Clinical, foodservice management, specialty, long term care or community rotations may be expanded.   You may also choose a concentration in another area with the approval of the program director.  You will work with the program director to design your concentration.  Learning objectives of the concentration must be consistent with the Standards of Education of the American Dietetic Association and the goals of the program. Click Here to read about some of the areas of concentration of our current and past interns.

Independent Study: 40 hours. 5 days.  You will have the opportunity to complete a project in an area of particular interest.  You will submit a proposal to the Program Director for this experience; arrangements and learning experiences will be planned by you with the help of the Program Director. Click Here to read about some of the independent study projects our past and current interns have done.

Assignments: In addition to assigned rotations, you will be expected to complete a variety of assignments and self-directed learning activities designed to supplement the practical learning experiences.  Some of these assignments and projects will be posted to the web site for sharing with the other students and some are completed collaboratively with other students through chat room times.