Food and Nutrition Internships | SIU

How can students prepare their credentials to be competitive for a dietetic internship appointment?

Although a student has no guarantee of receiving a dietetic internship appointment, there are several areas one can work on throughout the undergraduate years to be more competitive for an appointment. Some students may have to reapply several times to dietetic internship programs before receiving an appointment.

• Grades: Approximately a 3.0 GPA or better.
• Work Experience: Paid and/or volunteer. Hospital dietary work is highly regarded. Other dietary related experiences such as college food services, camp food services, nursing home food services, and community nutrition programs (such as WIC) are considered very good experiences. There are many different types of work experiences that can be very valuable.
• Extracurricular Activities: College/University clubs, sports, and community service projects.
• Letters of Recommendation: Required from several of your professors and possibly a work supervisor.

How do you improve your Chances?

If you want to improve your chances of receiving a dietetic internship appointment, consider the following suggestions.

1. Select programs that are in less popular geographic regions.
2. Select programs that do not provide stipends and choose programs that charge fees. Everyone would like to receive a large stipend while completing an experience program. Therefore, those that offer stipends are very competitive.
3. Select programs where you will be the only SIUC graduate applying. Compare notes with your friends, dietetic internships are strengthened by students from a variety of college and university settings. When you and your best friend apply to the same place you are competing against each other.
4. After you have identified programs you wish to consider, call; write a brief letter or email to the program director requesting current application materials. BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR SPELLING AND GRAMMAR BEFORE SENDING! You may apply to as many supervised practice programs as you wish but preparing each application takes considerable time and involves expenses.
5. Fees associated with the application process:
   • Fees for copies of transcripts
   • Nonrefundable Application fees
   • Fees to take exams such as the graduate record exam (GRE)
     Duplication costs
   • Postage for registered mail to notify you when applications are received.
   • Recent experience has shown that you should expect to spend at least $150 for every three applications.
6. As soon as you receive application materials:
   • Read all parts very carefully
   • Identify everything that must be done and when it must be accomplished
   • Allow yourself and others ample time to do a totally professional job in preparing the application. These materials are usually your only opportunity to sell yourself.
   • Follow all directions carefully. If a program does not specify complete directions (for example, whether the letter of application is to be typed or handwritten), you are expected to make a decision. You may call the program director for clarification but usually type all materials.
   • Give careful thought to your letter of application and/or resume. Discuss your interests in dietetics, goals, and what you have gained from courses, work experience, community campus involvement, etc. Add to rather than just duplicate information the reviewers will read in your application
   • Answer all questions and include all information requested in appropriate detail.
7. The content of the letter of application is to be your work. Do not ask anyone else to write is for you. The best letter is one you introduce yourself in your own way. The letter must be well organized, informative, grammatically correct and professional in content and appearance.

Letters of Recommendation

Ask faculty, supervisors, advisors, and employers for recommendations as directed in each application packet. Be sure you communicate fully and personally with those you ask to write a recommendation for you. If there are forms to be completed, envelopes required, waivers to be signed, or if specific points are to be addressed, be sure to indicate these facts to the person writing the recommendation. Do not leave faculty to guess what it is that you want and need from them.

Letters should be requested well in advance of the time they are needed. All letters for the spring match requested from SIU faculty must be requested before the end of fall semester. Otherwise, faculty will likely be unable to give the attention needed to such an important document. Also, faculty usually need a copy of your resume for use in writing recommendations. Some faculty will require additional information. Be sure titles are correct and names spelled properly.

Remember: All materials you submit represent you.

Also please remember to thank those who have been kind enough to assist you in this process with a thank you card. In the event you decide not to apply to any program after receiving a faculty letter of recommendation, promptly return the unopened letter to its author if applicable.

Transcripts

You will need a complete set of official transcripts from every college/university you have attended. Allow at least eight weeks to receive these, especially if you are requesting transcripts from other colleges. Transcripts must be official. It is a good idea to request two or three additional official transcripts. This allows for last minute changes or additional applications to graduate schools, scholarships, or other unanticipated needs.

Physical Exam

A few dietetic internships require a physical exam before final acceptance. If one is requested, make arrangements with your physician. Most programs will require a physical after your acceptance or when you arrive for the program. Personal health enables you to do your best and to profit from your internship experiences. It is best to be straightforward about health problems or concerns you may have. Because of the required physical exam, it is usually impossible to conceal problems.

Interviews

Internship directors vary in their desire for a personal interview. Some directors discourage interviews but encourage group tours or attendance at open houses. Some directors feel that on-site interviews are an unnecessary expense. Others believe some prospective students should not be greeted in person unless all can be. On the other hand, some directors encourage or even require in-person or telephone interviews of finalists. Do not insist on an interview if it seems the director is hesitant to provide this opportunity. Do take advantage of interviews, open houses or tours if permitted or invited to do so. Should you go to an open house, dress professionally and be knowledgeable concerning the program.

There are two components to the application process.

1. First, you must request and complete an application form and packages for each Dietetic Internship (DI) for which you plan to seek admission. Most internship sites utilize the DICAS system for students to upload their application.
2. The second component is the computer matching process via D&D Digital Systems, the company that handles the computer matching process for ACEND.

Applications are usually submitted in the spring of the senior year (mid-February) for notification in mid-April. There is also a fall application period for December graduates. Programs are very competitive and the best chance for acceptance is a 3.0/4.0 overall GPA with no "C" grades in HND and science courses. Nationally, approximately 50% of students who apply are accepted into internship programs.

HND 400 Senior Seminar will provide you with the necessary tools to complete this process. Students interested in graduate school or finding employment will also find this course useful to meet their future goals. HND 400 is offered the fall semester before graduation.

MAKING SURE THE APPLICATION IS COMPLETE

These applications are completed at an extremely busy time of year. It is important to plan ahead so that you may complete your materials in a timely fashion. As a safeguard, make a copy of your completed packet. This allows you to quickly assemble a packet should one be lost in the mail or should you need to reapply to a program for any reason. 

HOW DO I FIND OUT ABOUT DIETETIC INTERNSHIPS? HOW MANY STUDENTS ARE ACCEPTED?

A listing of all accredited supervised practice programs can be accessed from the ACEND website. During the fall semester before you graduate, you will enroll in HND 400, Senior Seminar. In this one credit hour seminar you will review the actual dietetic internship application procedure. In the fall of each year, junior and senior students in the DPD have opportunity to visit two dietetic internships in St. Louis, as well as meet directors of internships in St. Louis, Kansas City, central and southern Illinois.

WHAT IS COMPUTER MATCHING?

Computer matching is a program that serves as a clearinghouse to help applicants obtain dietetic internship positions of their choice and to help dietetic internships obtain applicants of their choice. It eliminates unfair pressures and premature decisions on and by programs to accept or reject applicants, and it eliminates unfair pressures on applicants to accept or reject an appointment into a dietetic internship. ACEND has contracted with D&D Digital Systems to facilitate matching through a computerized process.

TO HOW MANY PROGRAMS CAN I APPLY?

Students may apply to as many programs as they wish. They will need to rank all programs they apply to in order of preference on information about yourself, such as, name and social security number, as well as your order of preference of dietetic internships. The computer "reads" the information on the card and uses this information to match applicants and programs.

WHO DECIDES WHICH INDIVIDUALS ARE ACCEPTED TO THE PROGRAM?

Each dietetic internship reviews its own applications, and like students, submits a priority listing of applicants to D&D Digital Systems, along with the number of positions they have to be filled. Computer matching does not change applicants' or programs' selection process, so you will not be matched to a program whose name does not appear on your priority listing.

WHAT PROCESS IS USED FOR MATCHING?

Before matching begins, the applicant's priority lists and the dietetic internship's lists are "cleaned." If a program does not rank an applicant, that program will be removed from the applicant's list. If an applicant does not rank a program, the applicant is removed from the program's list. Then, the matching process takes place using the applicant's prioritized list and programs' prioritized list until all possible matches are complete. The process is explained in detail in the "Instructions to Applicants" booklet provided by D&D Digital Systems to directors of dietetics programs.

WILL I RECEIVE MORE THAN ONE MATCH?

No. Only one match can be given.

IF I CHANGE MY PLANS, WHAT SHOULD I DO?

You must notify D&D Digital Systems in writing or by fax prior to the drop deadline of your decision to withdraw from the matching process. The fee will not be refunded.

WHO PAYS FOR COMPUTER MATCHING?

All costs are borne by the applicant. Applicants must pay a fee when submitting their rank order lists to the D&D Digital Systems.

WILL THE APPLICANTS OR PROGRAMS KNOW HOW THEY HAVE BEEN RANKED BY THE OTHER?

No. All information submitted to D&D Digital Systems is kept confidential. Each applicant is given the final result of the matching. Each program is provided with names of applicants it obtains in the match. Programs and applicants are not told how they were ranked by each other.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCEPTANCE AND REJECTION LETTERS SENT TO APPLICANTS?

Applicants are provided with their personal matching results from D&D Digital Systems via posting on the D&D Digital Systems site. It also provides each program director with a list of applicants matched to its program. Applicants who receive a match are required to notify the program they have been matched with, in writing by the required date, that they accept or reject the appointment. Dr. Long receives notice of whether or not students match, but she is not informed to where a student matched. Please contact her to share your good news!

WHAT IF I DO NOT GET A MATCH?

D&D Digital Systems sends a listing of unmatched applicants who have agreed to release their names to each program following the matching. Programs may contact unmatched applicants or return to their applicant pool to fill positions after the appointment is occurred. When students submit an application to a Dietetic Internship program, they need to realize the selection process is no reflection on them personally. One is competing for an appointment but does not know against whom they are competing. In essence, information provided on numerous documents is the student's means of competition.

If a student does not receive an appointment, after a normal but very short initial disappointment phase, the student should begin to re-evaluate his/her credentials, identifying strengths and weaknesses (of which we all have), and begin to think about ways to better highlight the strengths and to improve on areas that need strengthening.

Students should contact Lynn Gill, DPD director, quickly so that together they can evaluate the many alternatives available and help the student think clearly through the situation. The faculty in Human Nutrition and Dietetics are interested in and concerned about their students and can be very helpful in providing support.

• Evaluate how you can improve your qualifications.
• Look at additional dietetic internship programs.
• Reapply.
• Obtain a job in a dietetics-related field.

Don't give up..."There is life after the Dietetic Internship application process" and there are many alternatives. Persistent, qualified applicants nearly always find placement.

HOW MUCH DOES A SUPERVISED PRACTICE PROGRAM COST?

Costs vary widely, so a student should check with each program about required expenses. Do not rule out entering any specific internship program just due to costs. All accredited internship programs associated with regionally accredited university graduate programs qualify for government sponsored loan programs. Numerous scholarship opportunities are available from Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation to help defray the cost of the supervised practice experience.

WHAT KIND OF JOBS CAN I GET WITHOUT THE R.D. CERTIFICATION OR STATE LICENSURE?

 Although most of the job market is for the RD, there are also opportunities open to human nutrition majors who do not complete the requirements to be an RD. If you do not become an RD, you need to be more open to different kinds of positions, and to different locations to secure them. Actual examples of employment of our majors who did not become RDs include:

• Diet Technician
• Food Service Supervisor
• Food Service Systems Management (contract food service companies)
• Sales within the health or food industry
• Jobs in public health programs, e.g., WIC, Head Start

IS SUMMER EMPLOYMENT IMPORTANT?

YES! In today's employment environment, anything you can do to enhance your resume is important. Many dietetic internship programs require at least one summer employment related to dietetics. Food service systems experiences are appropriate as well as working in the health care environment.

WHAT IS A DIETETIC TECHNICIAN?

There are two routes to becoming a Dietetic Technician, Registered (DTR). The traditional route is completion of an Associate degree (two-year program of study) that includes classroom (didactic) work as well as an experience component.

A second route is through completion of a Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD). DPD graduates are eligible to take the DTR examination upon completion of the appropriate paperwork.

These individuals generally work under a RD to perform routine duties at the technical level. Some hospitals will employ B.S. dietetics majors without the RD credential as a dietetic technician.