Graduate Dietetics Internship Program

 

Can You Help Me Become A Registered Dietitian?

A Dietetic Internship Program is offered which enables students to complete a graduate degree, as well as the requirements to become eligible for membership in the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) and to take the Registration Examination for Dietitians.   The Dietetic Internship Program is currently granted accreditation status by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND), 120 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 2000, Chicago, IL 60606-6995, 312/899-0040 ext 5400.

The UGA Dietetic Internship is a post baccalaureate program, which provides interns with the supervised practice experience needed to fulfill the competencies for dietitian established by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND).  This full-time program is completed as part of a master’s degree and is completed over 2 years (24 months). The internship is completed during 2 consecutive summers with some additional coursework during the academic year for a total of 1220 hours. Graduates of the program are eligible to sit for the registration exam for Registered Dietitians (RD).  The DI offers two concentration areas: Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) and Community Intervention and Research (CIR).  Interns will choose a concentration area upon admission to the program.  An intern cannot complete both concentration areas, but must complete one.  The program accepts 6 new interns each year to start in August and has 12 interns at a given time (6 first year and 6 second year students) Our pass rate for the registration examination for registered dietitians currently is 94%.  Our completion rate for the program (past five years) is 100%.

Mission Statement of the Dietetic Internship Program:
Optimal food and nutrient intake play a critical role in health promotion and disease prevention. There is an increasing demand for professionals in the field of dietetics who can provide quality food and nutrition care services to individuals and groups. The mission of the Dietetic Internship Program is to prepare students for successful careers in dietetics and encourage students to assume leadership roles in their profession and in society. Click here for the Dietetic Internship Handbook.

Goals of the Dietetic Internship Program:

Goal 1: The program will prepare graduates to be competent entry level dietitians or professionals in fields related to dietetics.

Goal 2: Program faculty and staff will provide guidance and support that will motivate a diverse group of students to complete the graduate program and dietetic internship and to assume leadership roles in the dietetics profession and society.

Goal 3: Students will demonstrate proficiency in understanding and communicating current research findings.

Outcome Measures for the Dietetic Internship Program:

1) Outcome measure: At least 90% of interns will be rated, on average, as “excellent” or “good” in “Overall Potential as a Professional” by supervised practice preceptors

2) Outcome measure: At least 90% of interns enrolled in the DI program are expected to complete all program requirements within 150% of the time planned for completion (150% = 36 months)

3) Outcome measure: Over a five-year period, the pass rate for DI graduates taking the registration examination for the first time will be at least 80%

4) Outcome measure: Over a five-year period, 70% or more of DI graduates who sought employment in dietetics will be employed within three months of program completion

5) Outcome measure: The dietetic internship program will maintain a diversity of our internship that is equal to or greater than the diversity of the University of Georgia student population.

6) Outcome measure: At least 50% of graduates will pursue further education, additional degrees or certifications, be active in professional organizations or in legislative activities

7) Outcome measure: At least 90% of alumni will be rated as “more than satisfactory” or “outstanding” by their job supervisors in 19 selected knowledge and skill areas

8) At least 80% of students will be rated as very good or excellent on their seminar presentation to the Foods and Nutrition department. 

9) At least 50% of students will present research findings at a local, regional, state or national level within one year of graduation.

Academic and DI Calendar/schedule:

Including the master degree, the MS/DI takes 2 years (24 mos) to complete.  The Supervised Practice rotations are scheduled over 2 consecutive summers, starting on the Monday after finals week in May, and ending on the Friday before classes start in August.  Summers typically cover 10 weeks of rotations, for a total of 20 weeks (40 hr/wk) during the 2 summers. Some additional supervised practice hours are completed during the two academic years. See Dietetic Internship Handbook for sample rotation schedule. 

UGA Academic Calendar (click)

Expenses

Students will be responsible for living expenses and transportation during the Dietetic Internship. Housing costs average $500 per month for a single room.  Meals may be purchased at the Internship facilities for $6 to $10 per day. Public transportation costs about $4 per day. Interns will need to purchase liability insurance each year ($29), be up to date with immunizations (~$150 total for three Hepatitis B vaccinations and ~$15 for TB test), and be CPR certified ($45). When taking classes at UGA, many of our graduate students receive financial aid in the form of teaching and research assistantships.  However, during the Dietetic Internship (i.e. the 2 summers), students are usually not eligible for these assistantships.  Since some of the sites are in Atlanta (~70 miles away), it is very useful to have a car.  Several sites are now requiring criminal background checks (~$75) and drug tests (~$75) for student interns.

Please contact Dr. Barbara Grossman for more information about this program at bgrossma@uga.edu. (no "N" at the end of name on email address)

Do You Offer Financial Aid?

Most of our graduate-dietetic students receive financial aid in the form of teaching and research assistantships.  When receiving an assistantship, tuition (but not fees) are waived.  Additional scholarships and several types of low interest loans are available through the Student Financial Aid Department.  For more information, click here.

What Are The Admission Requirements?

Acceptance into the Dietetic Internship program requires acceptance into the University of Georgia graduate school (masters program). A minimum of a Baccalaureate degree, granted by a U.S. regionally accredited college or university is required. For international applicants, the foreign degree equivalency statement must be obtained from one of the following non-for-profit agencies that provide this service (for a listing of these agencies, see http://www.cdrnet.org). In addition, students must have completed all, or will complete all, of the requirements of a Didactic Program in Dietetics and be successfully computer matched to our program. Coursework must have been completed within the last 6 years.

Application to both Dietetic Internship Program and Masters Program:

If you are interested in both our dietetics internship program and master program, then all required application materials must be received by January 11 (eleventh) at 5:00 pm EST.  This includes:

1. Submission to the graduate school: the required application fee (submit online), graduate school application (online, selected MS with thesis, code 347), three letters of recommendation that summarize your experience and ability to complete a graduate degree (submit online), official GRE scores as well as PPI scores (UGA’s GRE code is 5813), and official transcripts.  Apply to the UGA graduate school at this site for “prospective students:” http://www.grad.uga.edu/. Must receive by January 11 (eleventh) at 5:00 pm EST

2. Submission to the department by email: your completed application form “APPLICATION TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF FOODS AND NUTRITION GRADUATE PROGRAM” to bgrossma@uga.edu, tonyad@uga.edu, mjohnson@fcs.uga.edu.  CLICK HERE FOR THE FORM . Must receive by January 11 (eleventh) at 5:00 pm EST

3. Our program is using the on-line centralized internship application, DICAS, which may be accessed at https://portal.dicas.org , e-mail DICASinfo@DICAS.org. The on-line application must be completed for our program by 11:59 p.m. EST on February 15, 2013.  The fee to use DICAS is $40 for the first application submitted and $20 for each additional application. 

When completing the application form, applicants must include the name and contact information (specifically an e-mail address) for each reference.  This will trigger an e-mail message requesting completion of a reference form.  The form will be completed on-line.  The letter should summarize your experience and ability to complete a dietetic internship program.  Students submitting more than one application will need to use the same individuals as references for each application.

Applicants who apply to internships using DICAS will be asked to complete a personal statement.  Questions to be addressed in the personal statement include:

• Why do you want to enter the dietetics profession?
• Discuss experiences that have helped to prepare you for your career
• What are your short-term and long-term goals?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses or areas needing improvement?
• 8000 character limit

Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended should be sent to

                             DICAS- Transcript Dept

                             PO Box 9118

                             Watertown, Ma 02472

4.  Applicants must also register online for computer matching at www.dnddigital.com and select dietetic internship priority choices by 11:59 p.m. Central Time on February 15, 2013.  You will be asked to provide a ranking of dietetic internship programs for which you wish to apply (see your DPD program director for more information).  We only participate in the Spring match each year.  There is a $50 computer matching fee.

Preference criteria for admission to our graduate programs includes:

• Degree in foods and nutrition, food science, biology, zoology, biochemistry, chemistry, nursing, public health, or other closely related health science.
• Completion of at least two, and preferably three, of the following courses: organic chemistry, biochemistry, and physiology.  Grades should be “C” or better.
• Verbal GRE of 148 or higher
• GRE of 296 or higher (verbal plus quantitative).
• Take and submit the PPI along with the GRE.
• GPA of 3.0 or higher (on a 4.0 scale) for masters and 3.4 for doctorate.
• TOEFL iBT score of 80 with a minimum score of 20 in each of the four exam sub-sections (international students).
• Work or volunteer experience in at least one of the following: laboratory research, clinical research, food industry, nutrition education, health promotion, or other area related to health, nutrition or food science.
• At least one faculty who agrees to serve as the student’s graduate advisor.  See the list of faculty advisors at: http://www.fcs.uga.edu/fdn/grad/advisors.html.  Advisors are selected after your application is completely submitted.

For international applicants, note that the Graduate School rejects applications with TOEFL scores less than 213 (CBT), less than 550 (PBT), or less than 80 (iBT, minimums:  Speak = 20, write = 20).   So please do not apply if you do not meet these minimum test scores.

If you do not meet our admission criteria, then please consider applying to our undergraduate program or enroll as a post-Baccalaureate student (contact: Dr. Art Grider, agrider@fcs.uga.edu, http://www.admissions.uga.edu/).

For more information, please contact:
Mary Ann Johnson, PhD
Graduate Coordinator
Department of Foods and Nutrition
The University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602
mjohnson@fcs.uga.edu (preferred)
706-542-2292

When requested on the various forms and by various testing services, note that our major is "Foods and Nutrition" and our Degree Objective/Major Code is "347" and the ETS School Code is "5813".

Graduation/Program Completion Requirements

In order to complete both the graduate degree and dietetic internship and to receive a Verification Statement the following are required:

• Successful completion of all rotations
• Submission of Evaluation Forms, Competency Checklists, Work Samples as required from each rotation
• Complete and Exit Interview with the Program Director and complete requisite ADA forms
• Completion of 360 semester credit hours, plus 14 semester credit hours for the the internship for a total of 44 semester credit hours
• Maintain a minimum of 3.0 GPA with no incompletes in any graduate course
• Successful completion and defense of thesis
• Submission of all requisite forms to the Graduate School

The undergraduate dietetics coursework required for students interested in becoming a dietitian can be taken along with your graduate courses.  Here is some information about the dietetics courses and programs offered at the University of Georgia: http://www.fcs.uga.edu/fdn/undergraduate/dietetics.html#dc.

Who Can I Contact For More Information?

For information about the application process, graduate program, assistantships, coursework and getting an advisor, please feel free to contact the Graduate Coordinator:

Dr. Mary Ann Johnson, Graduate Coordinator
Department of Foods and Nutrition
College of Family and Consumer Sciences
373 Dawson Hall
The University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-2622
706-542-2292
mjohnson@fcs.uga.edu

For information regarding the Dietetic Internship program, feel free to contact the Dietetic Program Director:

Dr. Barbara Grossman, Dietetic Program Director
Department of Foods and Nutrition
Dawson Hall
The University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-2622
706-542-4908
bgrossma@uga.edu (no "N" at the end of name on email address)