Dietetic Internship
Schedule
The 11-month program is divided into three rotations: clinical, which lasts 18-19 weeks, food service management, 13 weeks, and community nutrition/nutrition education, 12 weeks. Interns are generally assigned to one facility for each rotation they complete, although they also visit other sites during some rotations. Working on some legal holidays, evenings, and weekends may occasionally be required.
In 2007 we started an intensive 2-week pre-clinical training program to help prepare interns for their clinical rotations. Response from interns and preceptors has been positive.
Interns are required to complete their supervised practice on the schedule assigned by their preceptor. Schedules vary from one rotation site to another, based on the needs of the particular facility and the preceptor to which the intern is assigned for any particular segment of a rotation. Some sites may typically require 3 full days/week, others 5-6 hours/day, 4-5 days/week, or special activities may occur on an occasional basis. Additional work (such as reading or research) is not included in the minimum 24 hours/week. The program becomes full-time (40 hours/week) for the staff relief portion of the clinical rotation (approximately the last 3 weeks of that rotation). Interns may be assigned to activities as early as 6 a.m. or as late as 7 p.m., or may be restricted to hours an organization normally operates (e.g. M-F, 8:30-5:00).
The minimum 24 hours/week is for practice in the facilities, and does not include travel time, outside preparation, the 3-day orientation, which precedes the entire program, or the seminar, which generally meets for a class day every other week. This schedule translates into an average of approximately 30 hours/week total commitment to the program, plus travel time to sites and seminars further away from an intern’s home.
There is a vacation between Christmas and New Year’s, with a one-week break approximately between the second and third rotations, usually falling in late February or late March. For 2008-2009, the program begins in mid August 2008, and runs through the end of June 2009. Click below for a copy of a sample schedule based on our 2007-2008 internship class.
