Educational Philosophy and Learning Methods

Central to our program mission and goals is our commitment to providing comprehensive supervised practice learning experiences in a university tertiary health care center to prepare graduates for entry-level practice and lifelong learning as registered dietitian nutritionists. Interns capitalize on the resources afforded by a teaching hospital environment during this 42-week supervised learning experience. The program is planned to meet a minimum of 1200 supervised practice hours which exceeds ACEND’s minimum requirement of 1000 supervised practice hours. Approximately 90% of the internship’s total scheduled hours are devoted to supervised practice experience, which supports our internship philosophy of learning by doing. Dietetic interns spend at least 65% of internship in inpatient and outpatient clinical nutrition rotations.

Didactics comprise the remaining 10% of internship hours, which include lecture-style and round table-based discussions. We emphasize the value of collaboration and teamwork, leadership and decision-making skills, problem-solving and critical thinking skills, and self-reflection in our planned learning activities. Our program plans a range of learning activities that support competency attainment, including direct patient care, interdisciplinary forums, management projects, and case study and journal club presentations. Interns assimilate and apply their new knowledge and skills using a variety of educational methods. In turn, our curriculum helps capitalize on each intern’s learning style and preferences.