How to Choose a Dietetic Internship

One of the most important parts of completing DICAS is choosing which dietetic internship (DI) programs you’re going to apply for.  Where do you look?  How do you start?  For a full list of all accredited programs (coordinated, didactic, dietetic internship and nutrition and diet tech programs) head to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ webpage.  On their website you can search programs by state, whether graduate credit or a degree is offered/available, if they’re distance programs, if there’s an ISPP option (study abroad), etc.

Here’s what the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ accredited programs site looks like.

Distance vs. On-Site Dietetic Internship

First things first: What kind of program to choose…distance or on-site.  I chose on-site because having to find my own preceptors while finishing my degree was too daunting.  You may have been told that distance internships, while more work on your part, are generally easier to match to.  So, if you have a rough GPA or limited work/volunteer experience a distance internship might be a good choice.  It’s also a good option if you absolutely can’t relocate because you can try to find preceptors near where you live.  Now, from what I’ve been told, setting up a distance internship is no easy feat.  Networking/building relationships is key to finding preceptors for yourself.

Certificate Program vs. Masters

The next big question is whether or not you want to get your Masters with your dietetic internship experience.  At this point, if you’re studying nutrition, I hope you’re aware that by 2024 you must have a Master’s Degree in order to sit for the RDN Exam.  Anyone who has already passed the exam by that point is exempt.  I still wondered if I’d need to get my Masters in order to remain competitive in the job market though.  Anyone sitting for the exam in the next couple years still has this choice, which is a really tough decision.

Ultimately, I didn’t want to launch myself into even more debt for a degree that may or may not help my future career goals, so I decided to just go the DI certificate route—no Masters.  I figure if I ever want to go back and get my Masters, I can, so that’s the choice that made the most sense to me.

If you do want to pursue your Masters in nutrition you then have to decide if you want to get your Masters of Science (MS) in nutrition or Masters of Public Health (MPH) in nutrition.  From what I’ve been told an MS is a good option if research or clinical work interests you.  An MPH is better suited to working in a community setting, or with policy.  Either way, there are generally two options for getting your Masters with your DI: coordinated programs where you do supervised practice and coursework at the same time, and programs where you do all of the coursework for your Masters and then complete your supervised practice after.

Finding Dietetic Internship Programs

Now what?  It’s time to look at programs!  If you can’t relocate, your options are much more limited (depending on which state you live in).  You’ll pretty much apply your state’s programs, and be done.  I was able to relocate, so I had a whole bunch of programs to sift through to find ones that most closely matched with what I wanted to get out of my internship experience.

To stay organized, I made a google doc full of program names, websites, etc. with a focus that interested me (public health, health and wellness, weight management).  Then, I went through this list and looked at every program’s website to look at cost and get an idea of what their program was like.  If it was way out of my budget, or just didn’t seem like a good fit for me I highlighted it red (definitely not applying) or yellow (maybe).  You guessed it—programs highlighted green were ones that sounded perfect for me and that I applied for.

How many programs should you apply to?  There isn’t really a hard and fast rule–I applied to 5 programs.  Keep in mind that applying to more programs increases your odds of getting matched, but those application fees add up very quickly and get expensive.  In my opinion, applying to anywhere from 3-7 programs is a good balance.  Then, I’d go back to their website for an in-depth look at their instructions for applying to their program.  Most programs have additional application fees (beyond what you’ll pay on DICAS), and many have additional questions they’d like you to include in your personal statement and/or extra application materials to mail to them.  One of the programs I applied for even requested an introduction video!  It’s extremely important to make sure you’ve read over every inch of their website so you don’t forget to include anything!

Here’s a screenshot of the google doc I created.

Letters of Recommendation

Once you find the programs that interest you, it’s time to ask for letters of recommendation.  No matter how far along you are in your didactic program, it’s never too late to start building relationships.  Several of the professors I asked I didn’t meet until the third and fourth years of my DPD.  Most dietetic internship programs request 3 letters of recommendation: 2 from professors and 1 from a work/volunteer supervisor.  You can submit as many as you’d like to DICAS and then pick which ones to submit to each program.  I ended up with 5 letters of recommendation on DICAS (3 from professors and 2 from work supervisors).  It’s nice to have options, and a backup in case someone actually does forget to submit their letter.  No matter how many letters you get, never submit more recommendations to a program than they request.

If you’re applying for spring match (where your DI starts in the fall) you should ask for recommendations early November.  Professors are generally very busy people, and with the holidays and winter break time goes fast.  It’s best to ask in person if you can, and then follow-up with an email.  Your email should provide instructions that they submit your recommendation on DICAS (which will open in December).  You should also attach your resume and other materials that document your accomplishments in school.  If they don’t know you particularly well, it’s a good idea to set up an in-person meeting with them.

Once DICAS opens in December, send a follow-up email (or remind them in person).  Send another reminder after your winter or holiday break.  If they still haven’t submitted it, send another at the end of January (unless they tell you “I’ll submit it on xx date” and that date hasn’t passed yet).  Be respectful about it, obviously, but sometimes you do need to remind people several times.  You’ll want to ask people that know you the best because they’ll be able to write much better recommendations.

Personal Statements

Next: let’s get personal.  Personal statements are SO HARD.  They require you to dig deep about why you want to be an RDN while simultaneously humble-bragging about yourself…definitely out of my comfort zone.  Oh, and then you have to make the whole thing flow well, so it’s actually interesting and stands out.

It actually took me a long time to figure out why I wanted to be an RDN.  Between all the coursework and jobs, I was so busy that I hadn’t actually taken the time to think about why I wanted this.  I just knew that I did.  Dig deep.  Everyone writes about wanting to be an RDN because they love food and helping people.  You don’t want to sound like everyone else, you want to stand out.  Once you get past why you want to be an RDN it’s a lot of humble-bragging…I figured out that professors, fellow students, family and friends are good resources for talking you up.  I met with a professor who was shocked that I was working 35-40 hours a week between my 3 jobs while going to school full-time and pursuing two minors.  Until she mentioned it, I hadn’t really thought about that being impressive.

Take a break from all the work you do on a daily basis, and write about how awesome you are.  Eventually you’ll find stuff you can pull into your personal statement.  You should write your personal statement for your top choice program, and then revise it for each additional program you apply to.  DON’T just reuse the exact same personal statement for every program you apply to.  They notice when personal statements are completely generic and applicable to any program.  It’s also a good idea to get comments on your personal statement from a variety of people.  Family and friends will suggest more awesome traits about you, while professors and RDNs will be able to give you tips about what a dietetic internship panel is looking for when they read your application materials.

DICAS homepage.

Dietetic Internship Centralized Application Services (DICAS)

Okay, now how should you tackle DICAS?  Working on DICAS for any amount of time stressed me out, so I split up the application.  Once DICAS opened in December I made a goal to complete one part per week.  This way I could come back to it fresh every time and hopefully not forget to add anything.  I did anyway—I forgot to include my involvement in a mentor program.  Some parts of DICAS are relatively easy like inputting your classes and adding your contact info.  Others, like your personal statement and all of your work/volunteer/student group involvement takes a lot more time.  Don’t worry though, DICAS retains all of the information you put into it until you’ve matched to a program.

Dietetic Internship Interviews

You’ve submitted DICAS, now what?  Not all dietetic internship programs have an interview.  If they don’t mention interviews on their website—you can always email when you’re applying and ask.  Getting an interview is a good sign that you’re a competitive applicant (obviously).  If you know they have interviews and you don’t get one, you can re-rank them on DICAS accordingly.  Loyola offered me an interview, and I had no idea what to expect…I had been in many job interviews, and several panel interviews so I wasn’t too concerned about that aspect.  But what kinds of questions were they going to ask?  I had no clue, so I prepared for everything.  Random questions, knowledge questions, personal questions, I prepped for them all.

By the time my interview came around I was so anxious I was just hoping I’d make it through without having a panic attack.  And guess what?  The interview was SO CHILL.  They mostly asked questions about my resume and previous experiences, why I wanted to go to Loyola, why I was a good fit for their program.  Word of advice?  Prepare questions to ask them too.  I had a list of 3-4 questions to ask, and my interviews looked very impressed.  Having questions about their program shows that you’ve researched them enough to actually have questions.  Some good ones are about their contact with their preceptors, professional development skills, inter-professional teams, etc.

It’s also a good idea to bring a portfolio with performance reports from jobs, nutrition materials or projects you designed, etc.  I forgot about this until the night before when I was frantically googling “how to prepare for a DI interview”.  I prepared something simple in a stressed out frenzy.  And guess what?  I didn’t even end up using it.  There just wasn’t a time in my interview where I thought to myself “gee, something in my portfolio would help here”, so I never even opened it.  All that stress for nothing, huh?

Post-DICAS Submission

The dietetic internship application process is very stressful and overwhelming, but ultimately you just have to accept that everything will be okay.  Things will work out the way they’re supposed to.  Loyola wasn’t my top choice on DICAS, but it was the best fit for me anyway.  I just didn’t realize it until after the turmoil of everything died down.

Whew!  That was a lot…if you’re currently a nutrition/dietetics student and have any specific questions for me feel free to let me know!  I’d be happy to answer any questions, though I can’t promise I have all the right answers.  :P  All Access Internships is also a great site to check out for more information on the process of applying to a dietetic internship.  I’m officially living in Illinois now and starting my DI, so my next post will cover my adventures week one!