Dietetic Internship Program
Structure of the Program
The UNLV Dietetic Internship (DI) is administered through the UNLV Department of Nutrition Sciences. Both the DPD and Dietetic Internship are designed to provide well-trained dietetics professionals for the growing Southern Nevada region.
The DI is designed to prepare interns to meet entry-level skills expected of the Registered Dietitian. In 2004 the UNLV DI received Developmental Accreditation from The Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education (CADE) of the American Dietetic Association. The contact information for CADE is listed below:
Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education
American Dietetics Association
120 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 2000
Chicago, IL 60606-6995
Phone: (312) 899-0040 ext. 5400
E-mail: education@eatright.org
Website: http://www.eatright.org/cade
Interns must be enrolled in KIN 796 (Supervised Practice: Community Nutrition), KIN 797 (Supervised Practice: Foodservice Management), and KIN 798 (Supervised Practice: Clinical Nutrition). In addition, the DI consists of 1040 contact hours (40 hours per week for six months). An additional 15-20 hours per week will be required for preparation of the rotations and to complete assignments in fulfillment of the graduate courses. Upon successful completion of the DI, students will be eligible to take the National Registration Examination for Dietitians.
The program currently accepts 6 interns per year, 3 in each six-month period. Of the 1040 hours, 600 are devoted to clinical experience, 240 to food service management, and 200 to community experience. Below is an overview of the rotations with a sample schedule included.
Community Nutrition Rotation Overview
The goal of the community component of the Dietetic Internship is to provide the intern with the opportunity to observe and gain information from a variety of diverse community nutrition programs as well as a more intensive work experience in one aspect of community nutrition programming. This format will provide each intern with the opportunity to observe the diversity within community nutrition and to actively participate in nutrition program development and implementation. The Community Nutrition Component of the dietetic internship will provide 200 hours of supervised practice. The time will be allotted as follows:
- Approximately 8 hours of classroom experience and projects
- Approximately 72 hours of multiple-site overview experiences
Learning experiences at these short-term sites will include observation and participation in activities such as coding data, developing a marketing brochure or press release, group presentations, or a resource review. The intern will also obtain information on mission, funding, target audience(s), and major programs at each site he/she visits. The goal of these rotations is to provide the intern with a broad perspective of the variety of nutrition/ health agencies/organizations and programming within the community and the duties performed by an RD at these various sites. Sites have been selected to include non-profit health organizations, commodity organizations, governmental agencies and programs, and for-profit companies.
Approximately 120 hours of an in-depth, single-site learning experience
Each intern will spend three weeks at a single site where they will learn about the mission and vision of the agency/organization, organizational structure, funding source(s), target audience(s) served, and major program areas within the agency/ organization. The intern will spend time on various projects within the agency/ organization in order to obtain experience in all aspects of the program planning process.
Food and Beverage Management Rotation Overview
Each student will spend 6 weeks in the food service management rotation. During the six-week period, interns will learn and acquire skills in the following areas:
- Production (assessing inventory, ordering, deliveries/receiving, storage, production sheets, food production, entrée preparation with patient survey)
- Tray line supervision for breakfast and dinner shifts (introduction, times, temperatures, scheduling, and presentation)
- Cafeteria, physician’s lounge, and catering (operations, scheduling, presentation, cashier duties, food safety, cleanliness)
- Diet Office/Diet Technician duties/supervision
Clinical Rotation Overview
Each intern will spend 15 weeks in the clinical rotation. During the fifteen-week period, interns will learn and acquire skills in the following areas:
- Orientation to facility, diet office, and modified menu planning.
- Nutritional Screening and Assessment.
- Medical Nutrition Therapy for various disease states (i.e. Outpatient Care, Diabetes Mellitus, Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, Cardiopulmonary Diseases, Oncology, Orthopedics and Surgery, Rehabilitation and Neurology, Intensive Care and Nutrition Support, Renal Disease/RenalDialysis Center, Pediatrics, Trauma.
Program Admission and Selection of Interns
Successful applicants must meet the following minimum admission standards:
- A baccalaureate or advanced degree from a regionally accredited four-year college or university.
- Minimum overall GPA of 2.75 (4.00 = A) for the bachelor’s degree or a minimum 3.00 GPA (4.00 = A) for the last two years of study.
- Didactic Program in Dietetics Verification Statement or Intent to Complete Form.
If accepted into the DI Program, students must complete an application to the UNLV Graduate College to become at a non-degree seeking student. This application can be found at http://graduatecollege.unlv.edu/admissions/non_degree_students.htm. There is no fee to apply.
The program director along with Nutrition Sciences faculty members do the first screening based on GPA, work experience, volunteer experience, and letters of reference. The top 6-8 applicants will then be selected for interviews. Interviews may be done in person or by phone.
Student Responsibilities (To Allow Supervised Practice Experience at the Sites)
Students who are accepted into the program must:
- Provide evidence of a criminal background investigation. If selected for the internship, the DI Program Director will inform you of the process.
- Provide certification of training in Hospital and Laboratory Safety (Certification must be consistent with U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention guidelines). A web-based course will be offered through UNLV and needs to be taken prior to the start of the internship. If selected interns have similar training, their certificate/training will be reviewed by the Director of the UNLV Clinical Laboratory Sciences Program to determine if it meets our requirements.
- Provide evidence of medical insurance coverage, and evidence of last physical examination, including proof of current status of the following:
- Statement from physician confirming that the intern is healthy and able to participate in the DI.
- Negative result to an 8-panel drug screen. Selected interns can have this test performed locally at Quest Diagnostics. The DI Program Director will give interns the laboratory request slip.
- Tuberculosis signs & symptoms questionnaire and either 1, 2, or 3:
Two-step TB skin test (TST) for students with no history or a positive TST who have not been tested in the last 12 months; - One step TST test for students with proof of a negative TST test in the last 12 months;
- Chest radiograph for students with proof of past positive TST.
- Please contact the Clark County Health District at (702) 385-1291 or http://www.cchd.org, or call the UNLV Student Health Center at (702) 895-3370 for information or to schedule the test.
- Rubella: documented receipt of one vaccination after 1st birthday, serology or born before 1957
- Rubeola: documented receipt of two vaccinations on or after first birthday, serology or born before 1957
- Chicken Pox: history or documented receipt of vaccination
- Hepatitis B: vaccines, titer, or statement of refusal
- Tetanus and diphtheria: inoculation within ten years
