Internship Program Goals

  1. To provide the health care field with competent dietitians in its endeavor to achieve and maintain a high quality of well being for all people.
  2. To provide interns with the resources and opportunities necessary for education and training, which will prepare them for responsibilities as competent "entry level dietitians" with an emphasis in medical nutrition therapy.
  3. To train and empower students with the necessary skills to conduct and present basic practice based research.
  4. To enhance the interns' written and oral presentation skills through the completion of case studies, class presentations, and clinical projects.
  5. To provide a supportive environment to meet the individual needs of the students in an effort to promote the acquisition of professional and ethical behaviors.
  6. To prepare the interns for leadership roles within their profession and for a commitment to community service. 
  7. To provide for on-going program evaluation and improvement in an effort to optimize program accountability and effectiveness in intern education.


Internship Outcome Measures

Based on the above goals, outcome measures were developed, which are tied to our program goals. 

Goal #1: 

  • Alumni achieve over a 5 year period a pass rate of at least 80% on the R.D. exam.
  • Interns demonstrate acquisition of core knowledge base in dietetics by achieving at least an 80% on their internship didactic examinations.
  • Within 6 months of obtaining employment, completed employer evaluation surveys reveal a high degree of satisfaction with alumni job performance as evidenced by 80% of the respondents scoring the intern graduate as above average or better.
  • A total of 90% of the program's interns will complete the program each year.

Goal #2

  • At least 75% of interns rate the program's educational experiences, including clinical and community rotations, as well as the program's didactic component as above average or higher.
  • Within 12 months of completing the program, at least 75% of program graduates have passed the R.D. exam and obtained employment within the dietetics or nutrition field or are enrolled in an accredited graduate or professional education program.
  • At least 50% of program graduates will have obtained employment in the area of clinical or community medical nutrition therapy.

Goal #3

  • Five out of the 10 interns will select a clinical or research project, and present it successfully at the end of the year.
  • Interns will demonstrate above average performance on their project proposals and final project paper.
  • Interns will be encouraged to present their research projects at local, state, or national meetings.
  • Based on the program evaluation questionnaire, 75% of interns surveyed will rate the research experience as superior or above average

Goal #4

  • During the course of the internship year, through writing and presenting case studies, class presentations and research projects, interns will demonstrate a marked improvement in the their project scores and their oral presentation skills.
  • Based on the program evaluation questionnaire, students will consistently include major project completion and opportunity for presentations as major program strengths. 
  • Based on the 5 Year Intern Alumni Survey, at least 50% of the respon-dents are involved in community presentation and/or professional lectures to staff or students or have published of articles within dietetics or nutrition. 

Goal #5

  • Using the both the Program Evaluation Questionnaire and the 5 Year Alumni Survey, at least 80% of the interns will rate the program's support, mentoring and "preparation for first and subsequent positions" as excellent and/or as "realistic" or "very realistic".
  • Using the results of the employer evaluation surveys, 75% of the graduates will obtain a score of 3.0 or better on the acquisition of professional behaviors.

Goal #6

  • Intern accomplishments during the year, which emphasize leadership skills as well as community service, will be presented within the annual report.
  • Using the 5 Year Intern Alumni Survey, at least 50% of the respondents employed within the profession participate in professional leadership activities and in community projects and/or presentations.

Goal #7

  • The systematic plan for program evaluation will be clearly delineated and reported on.
  • Results of the on-going program evaluation and annual program policy and content revisions will be reported on annually to the clinical and management staff via the Annual Internship Report and Meeting
  • The results of the Dietetic Advisory Board meeting every 3 years will be clearly documented and recommendations implemented, where feasible.