Dietetic Internship

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General Program Schedule and Length of Rotations

In general, students will complete 24 hours of supervised practice weekly in the fall and spring semesters; however, additional rotations are scheduled during some University holidays. Throughout the summer session, interns will work 40 hours per week.

General Description of Rotations

Out-Patient Nutrition Programs

This rotation is designed to provide students with a more in-depth look at a specific out-patient nutrition program. Sites often utilized are diabetes and cardiac rehabilitation programs. During the rotation, students are given the opportunity to develop skills in nutrition screening and assessment as well as individual and group education and counseling.

Long Term Care

The rotation is designed to provide interns with an introduction to clinical practice in long term care settings. Interns will be given the opportunity to work with dietitians performing nutrition assessments and interventions and will be introduced to the regulatory guidelines for long term care. The long term care rotation will enable students to examine facilities with a longer length of stay as well as furnish invaluable experience with the geriatric population.

Comprehensive Weight Loss

Interns will work closely with dietitians and physicians to gain experience managing obesity across the lifespan. Students will work with surgical weight loss, medical weight loss, and wellness programs and be given the opportunity to develop assessment, education, and counseling strategies pertinent to this unique patient/client population.

Nutrition Education

Interns will plan, implement, and participate in the evaluation of Marshall’s Nutrition Education Program which provides nutrition education to qualifying K-12 schools throughout southern West Virginia. This rotation enables students to interact with a variety of groups of children, improve public speaking skills, and gain a better understanding of program development, craftsmanship, and evaluation.

Extension Programs

The extension rotation provides interns with a better understanding of extension programs throughout the state. Students will gain valuable experience in the WVU Family Nutrition Program by participating in various aspects of extension.

WIC Program

Working with local nutritionists, this rotation provides students with a firm foundation in the areas of prenatal, infant, and child nutrition as well as breastfeeding. After completing the WIC rotation, students will be familiar with the program eligibility requirements, nutrients targeted by WIC, and the areas of nutritional risk identified by the program.

Foodservice Management

During this rotation, interns will gain valuable experiences in a healthcare foodservice setting. Because of previous “hands on” foodservice experiences as undergraduates, interns will be familiar with stages of procurement, production, distribution, and service. Therefore, the rotation will focus more on the complex duties and skills required of a foodservice director/manager. Upon completion of the rotation, students should be able to function independently with little direction from the preceptor.

Introduction to Clinical Practice

Introduction to Clinical Practice is designed to provide the intern with the experience necessary to begin the major clinical portion of the internship. Many interns have little or no hospital experience and will initially be exposed to things such as the diet office, screening of patients, and obtaining food preferences during the rotation. After completing this rotation, interns should be comfortable educating patients individually or in groups, assessing nutritional needs and intervening as necessary, presenting a case study, and communicating with other health care professionals.

Clinical Practice and Staff Relief

This rotation is designed to provide the intern with the remaining experience necessary to function as an entry-level dietitian. Interns have gained previous clinical experience during the Long Term Care and Introduction to Clinical rotations and should be adequately prepared to screen, assess, and educate patients. The experience should challenge the interns with more complex cases and make them feel comfortable functioning as a dietitian in a clinical setting. Students are expected to complete a minimum of two weeks staff relief.

Didactic Course Requirements

Dietetic Interns must enroll in and successfully complete the following courses as part of internship requirements:

Graduate Catalog Course Descriptions

DTS 670	Advanced Medical Nutrition Therapy I	(3 hours)
	Pathophysiology, medical nutrition therapy, and current research of common and unique disease states and conditions.
DTS 673	Administrative Dietetics	(3 hours)
	Application of a systems approach to transforming resources in a foodservice setting. Management theories, principles, organizational climate, and continuous quality improvement are discussed as vehicles to achieve the desired outputs.
DTS 675	Dietetic Internship Practicum I	(3 hours)
	Supervised practice experience focusing on the nutritional screening, assessment, and education of individuals and groups across the lifespan in a variety of community and long term care settings.
DTS 676	Dietetic Internship Practicum II	(3 hours)
	Supervised practice experience focusing on activities necessary for managing foodservice facilities and introduction to clinical practice.
DTS 677	Dietetic Internship Practicum III	(3 hours)
	Supervised practice experience focusing on skills required to become a competent entry-level clinical practitioner.
DTS 679	Advanced Medical Nutrition Therapy II	(3 hours)
	The continued study of pathophysiology, medical nutrition therapy, and current research of common and unique disease states and conditions.
DTS 690	Research Applications in Dietetics	(3 hours)
	A synopsis of research design and analysis, with principles applied in development and presentation of a research

Program Costs

The itemized list of potential expenses below is estimated and subject to change. Please realize that the amount will vary according to situation.

*Driving is required for the internship. Rotation sites are within a 60 mile radius of Huntington, West Virginia.

All students are required to obtain a TB skin test and CPR certification, and are encouraged to obtain a Hepatitis B vaccination prior to beginning the program. The costs vary and are the student’s responsibility. In addition, background checks and drug screens will be conducted during orientation. Interns will not be permitted to begin rotations until these have been successfully completed.

Research Assistantships

Qualified interns may be able to receive a research assistantship (RA) in the department for reduced tuition if adequate funding is available. This type of RA requires students to work a total of ten hours per week within the department. It should be noted that assistantships do not cover the cost of all student and other fees, or the cost of summer tuition.

As mentioned, students receiving an assistantship are required to work ten hours per week in the department. Responsibilities will be assigned to students and hours worked must be documented weekly. Failure to work assigned hours, complete assignments, or document hours worked will lead to termination of the assistantship position and forfeiture of tuition remission.

Program Completion Requirements

Upon successful completion of the following criteria, the student will receive a Verification Statement and become eligible to take the Registration Examination:

1. Ten months of supervised practice in selected sites, consisting of a minimum of 1200 clock hours.
2. All learning outcomes for entry-level dietitians as mandated by the 2012 Standards for Internship Programs in Nutrition and Dietetics.
3. Evaluations indicating a performance of Meets Expectations or above in each supervised practice rotation.
4. Self-evaluation of performance and experience after each supervised practice rotation.
5. Submission of Internship Portfolio.
6. Final program evaluation upon completion of supervised practice and didactic requirements.
7. A total of 21 semester hours of required graduate courses with an overall GPA of 3.0 or better.