Tulane Dietetic Internship

The Dietetic Internship is a graduate-level supervised practice program for students who would like to become registered dietitians. It is a full time non degree program with a community emphasis. The dietetic internship at Tulane University School of Public Health is currently granted accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 120 South Riverside Drive, Chicago, IL 60606. 312/899-0040, ext 5400.

The mission of the Tulane Dietetic Internship is to prepare entry-level dietitians for leadership in community health practices through education, research and practice directed at health promotion and disease prevention among individuals and their communities. The purpose of the Dietetic Internship program at Tulane is to provide a comprehensive and intensive supervised practice experience, with the opportunities to acquire the competencies necessary to function as an entry-level practitioner and to make the student registration eligible in dietetics. The Dietetic Internship program will give the students the opportunity to apply clinically the nutrition and food management knowledge that they have learned in their Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD).

Admissions Requirements

To be eligible for the internship, you must have both completed a bachelor's degree and have a verification statement from an ACEND-accredited Didactic Program in Dietetics. Our department does not offer the courses that may be required to obtain this verification statement. If you are interested in the internship but have not majored in nutrition in college, you will need to take additional undergraduate nutrition courses and should e-mail the Dietetic Internship Director, Marsha Piacun at di@tulane.edu.

The Tulane University Dietetic Internship participates in a pre-selection process in addition to the computer matching process. In the pre-selection process, the program can select up to 3 students per year who have met the pre-selection admission requirements. To be considered for pre-selection, a student must be enrolled in the Tulane MPH Nutrition program. The student must graduate prior to beginning the Dietetic Internship. The DPD courses must be completed prior to the beginning of the Dietetic Internship.

The applicant must bring a complete application packet to the Director of the Dietetic Internship by January 1 (application forms, 3 recommendations, letter of application, DPD verification statement, transcripts). The applicant will be notified on or before February 1 confirming her/his acceptance or rejection into the program through the pre-selection process. The remaining number of positions will be filled through the computer matching process.

If preselected, the DI program director will provide to D&D Digital the list of students preselected along with their e-mail addresses by the February 1 deadline. D&D Digital will use this information to ensure that the applicant does not participate in the computer match. If the applicant is not selected through the preselection process, he/she may reapply to this or any other DI through the computer matching process. The deadline for application for the April computer match is February 15.

Application Deadline: February 15 of each year (refer to the D&D Digital and DICAS websites)

Program Requirements

The internship lasts 10 months and provides practical training and field experience in various community, clinical and food service and management settings in the New Orleans and surrounding areas. The program accepts 20 interns per year. The internship begins in the Fall semester and is over in June. Interns must successfully complete all rotations and exams to receive a verification statement and be eligible to take the CDR Registration Examination in Dietetics. Interns must follow the policies/procedures required by the rotation facilities. Interns must remove facial jewelry and tattoos must be covered with clothing while at internship rotation sites. For more information, contact Marsha Piacun at di@tulane.edu.

Important Information

For more information, contact: Marsha Piacun at di@tulane.edu.

Check out this video of the dietetics open house open house made by the 2017 DI class.

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Tulane Dietetic Internship