The Distance Dietetic Internship (DDI) is a one year program that combines supervised practice and 36 hours of graduate coursework.
Dietetic internship applicants are often unsure of the best program to meet their needs. Marshall Nutrition and Dietetics provides an efficient one-year MS/DI program that results in the knowledge needed to become a successful entry-level Registered Dietitian Nutritionist at an affordable price.
- Gain school nutrition experience by completing your dietetic internship though Marshall. This is a niche area of dietetics and an opportunity to learn the role of the RDN in K-12 schools.
- Add more value to your future employer in community nutrition through school nutrition and grantsmanship experience, which can accelerate your career in this area of dietetics.
- Ideal applicants for our program are motivated and ready to begin working in the next 12-18 months.
Interested in learning more about our program? Join us for our open house on October 25, 2024 from 2-4pm EST. Click here to register. It’s easy: 1) learn about our program, 2) apply to our program, 3) succeed in our program.
Program Schedule and Length of Rotation
ALL Distance Interns are required to attend an On-Campus Orientation prior to starting rotations (NO EXCEPTIONS). Interns will spend 4 days in Huntington, W.V. meeting faculty, reviewing internship requirements and becoming familiar with documentation procedures.
| Supervised Practice Area | Rotation Description | Hours in Rotation |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-Clinical Rotation | 24 | |
| Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) | Must include an acute care experience. May also include in-patient and out-patient care, long term care, dialysis, nutrigenomics, and other areas where nutrition assessment and interventions are conducted. | 475 |
| Program Concentration Area School Nutrition Education and Grantsmanship | Providing in-school nutrition education. Can be completed in pre-school/Head Start, Elementary, Middle, or High School. Preferred Route is working with an agency that has a grant-based program providing services (e.g. Cooperative Extension Service) or utilizing School Nutrition Directors or School Foodservice Managers. | 185 |
| Foodservice Management (FSM) | May include industrial foodservice operations such as hospital, college, or school foodservice operations, or prison/detention center facilities. | 120 |
| Community Nutrition | Potential sites include any of the following: WIC, Cooperative Extension, Child Nutrition Services (such as USDA National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs, Summer Foodservice Feeding Program), Public Health Department, Food Banks/Pantries, or Wellness Programs | 185 |
| Elective Rotations | These hours can be added to FSM, MNT, community nutrition, or school nutrition, or they allow students to choose opportunities in other areas of dietetics: private practice business strategies (work with private practice dietitians on the nutrition and business side of their career), social media (work with a media dietitian on social media development), specialized clinics (eating disorder, health at every size, cystic fibrosis, weight loss, bariatric surgery, etc.), higher education (work with faculty to understand the ins and outs of being a faculty member), sports nutrition, nutrigenomics, nutrition informatics, supermarket nutrition. If you have any questions about possible rotations, contact the distance internship coordinator. | 52 |
| Total Supervised Practice Hours | 1041 | |
| Orientation | Held in early to mid-August in Huntington, WV | 30 |
General Description of Internship Rotations
Medical Nutrition Therapy
The medical nutrition therapy supervised practice experience and didactic learning activities prepare interns to implement the nutrition care process with various populations and diverse cultures, including infants, children, adolescents, adults, pregnant/lactating females, and the elderly. Disease states and conditions with MNT could include weight management and obesity, pediatrics, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal disease, cardiovascular disease, vascular disease, pulmonology, nephrology, burns, transplants, and parenteral and enteral feeding.
School Nutrition Education
Offer “in-school” nutrition education to a diverse population of children and adolescents and acquire skills necessary to design and deliver curricular materials and interventions related to policy, system, and environmental nutrition and physical activity change to pre-K through grade 12.
Foodservice Management
The foodservice management supervised practice experience and didactic learning activities prepare interns for the production and delivery of meals for patients or students. Interns will work with the facilities’ retail operations, all activities related to menu processing and the service of meals, and nourishments and enteral feedings to patients. Dietetic interns gain experience in systems related to food production, distribution and service operations, the maintenance and sanitation of the serving pantries and equipment, managing human resources and quality assurance, and continuous quality improvement.
Community Nutrition
The community nutrition supervised practice experience and didactic learning activities prepare interns to practice in a community-based nutrition program. Hands-on experiences include conducting community nutrition assessments, providing counseling and education, conducting wellness promotion activities, and participating in project-related time management duties. Interns will develop skills in evaluating and applying government program guidelines and policies to understand the role of public policy in the regulation of community nutrition programs. Interns will promote good health and wellness to people of all ages. They will also learn how to interact and appropriately educate groups of people.
Elective Rotations
Elective rotations allow students to choose where they would like more hours by adding these rotation hours to the core rotations, or by allowing them to choose hours in specific areas of dietetics. Examples include: private practice business strategies, social media, specialized clinics (eating disorder, health at every size, cystic fibrosis, weight loss, bariatric surgery, etc.), higher education, sports nutrition, nutrigenomics, nutrition informatics, supermarket nutrition. If you have any questions about possible rotations, contact the distance internship coordinator.
Program Completion Requirements
Upon successful completion of the following criteria, the intern will receive a Verification Statement, become eligible to take the Registration Examination, and complete the Master’s of Science degree:
- Ten months of supervised practice in selected sites, consisting of a minimum of 1000 clock hours.
- All learning outcomes for entry-level dietitians as mandated by the 2022 Standards for Internship Programs in Nutrition and Dietetics.
- Evaluations indicating competency performance of Meets Expectations or above in each supervised practice rotation.
- Self-evaluation of performance and experience after each supervised practice rotation.
- Submission of online portfolio.
- Final program evaluation upon completion of supervised practice and didactic requirements.
- A total of 36 semester hours of required graduate courses with an overall GPA of 3.0 or better.
- Completion, with a passing grade, of a written and oral comprehensive examination in the final semester.
Technology Requirements
Student selected for and enrolled in the distance dietetic internship will complete required internship courses online. At a minimum, a desktop or laptop computer, reliable Internet access, and a webcam and mic for course work are needed. Students will use Blackboard, Marshall’s Learning Management System, to complete online courses. Students must be proficient in the use of computers, the Internet, browsers, Microsoft Office Word, and other common applications. Blackboard support is available 24/7 and the University’s IT service desk is also available to provide technology assistance.
Academic and Program Calendar
Interns will observe the University calendar for all graduate classes. Class breaks for holidays will be indicated on respective course syllabi. Supervised practice rotations, however, may be scheduled during University holidays in order to attain the appropriate number of hours for program completion. The Internship Handbook is updated annually to reflect these dates and is provided to interns during orientation, which takes place a week before fall classes begin.