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Tulane Dietetic Internship

The Tulane Dietetic Internship Program 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, Suite 2190, Chicago, IL 60606. 800/877-1600, ext 5400. Their website is https://www.eatrightpro.org/acend.

The mission of the Tulane Dietetic Internship is to prepare entry-level Registered 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 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).

The purpose of the Tulane Dietetic Internship 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 (to be qualified to register for the Registered Dietitian [RD] Exam).

Admissions Requirements

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

Applicants must submit the following materials prior to February 15th.

DICAS application - submitted online at https://portal.dicas.org/
D & D Digital computer matching - submitted online at https://www.dnddigital.com/
For International Students, official TOEFL scores should be mailed to the Tulane DI Director
Tulane SPHTM Dietetic Internship application with a check or money order payable to Tulane University for $40
Video of the applicant answering questions

The last two items should be mailed to Tulane with a postmark by February 15th to:

Marsha Piacun, MBA, RD, LDN
Tulane Dietetic Internship Director
Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine
1440 Canal Street, Mail Code 8319
New Orleans, LA 70112

All applications are evaluated by a committee who look at the applicant's GPA, recommendation letters, personal statement, video, work experience and unique characteristics. The committee would like the cohort to be made up of interns with various backgrounds and interests. The applicants are ranked before the D & D Digital deadline. The DI Match list is posted in early April by D & D Digital. If the applicant is matched, they must contact the Tulane DI Director within 24 hours to accept the Tulane DI position.

Application Deadline: February 15th of each year (refer to the D & D Digital and DICAS websites for their deadlines).

Preselect Admission Requirements

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 eight (8) students per year who have met the pre-selection admission requirements. To be considered for pre-selection, an applicant must be enrolled in the Tulane MPH Nutrition program and must graduate prior to beginning the Tulane Dietetic Internship in August. If needed, the DPD courses must be completed prior to the beginning of the Dietetic Internship.

The pre-select applicant must bring a complete application packet to the Tulane Dietetic Internship Director by January 1 (application forms, 3 recommendations, personal statement, DPD verification statement, and transcripts). The applicant will be notified on or before February 1 confirming their acceptance or rejection into the Tulane DI program through the pre-selection process. The remaining number of positions will be filled through the D & D Digital computer matching process.

If pre-selected, the Tulane DI Director will provide to D & D Digital the list of students pre-selected 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 pre-selection process, they may reapply to this or any other DI through the computer matching process. The deadline for application for the April computer match is February 15th.

Drexel University MS-DPD students may also apply for pre-selection process. Applicants initially apply to Drexel's program. After acceptance, the Drexel Program Director will guide the applicants through the pre-select process for the Tulane DI program. The completed application packet will be sent by Drexel to the Tulane DI Director and other partners during the fall semester. Notification of ranking choices will be in January. The Drexel Program Director will notifiy the partner DI's of the internal match results. Tulane DI Director will notify D&D Digital of the pre-selected Drexel Students.

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

Program Requirements

The Tulane Dietetic Internship lasts 10 months and provides practical training and field experience in various community, clinical, and food service and management settings in the greater New Orleans area. The program accepts 20 interns per year. The internship begins in the Fall semester and is completed 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 the Tulane Dietetic Internship Director 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.

Recent DI graduate Holly Wise just published an article How to Have Fun in the Kitchen on the Fruits & Veggies website!