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Family and Consumer Sciences

Supervised Practice Experience

In the Distance Dietetic Internship (DDI) you are awarded graduate credit for completing your supervised practice experiences. Our distance track offers unique flexibility to design your own supervised practice schedule to fit your needs and recruit preceptors in the practice area and geographic location that aligns with your career aspirations!

Supervised Practice Requirements

The Distance Dietetic Internship allows you to choose your own rotation sites within the areas of clinical, food service, and community. To prioritize your learning, rotation sites will need to comply with our minimum site requirements, provide instruction that progresses from basic to more complex, and be approved by our program leaders.

  • If you are completing the Distance Dietetic Internship while taking online courses for your Master of Science in Nutrition Degree:

    • 320 hours of food service management; 10 weeks at 32 hours a week

    • 320 hours of community nutrition; 10 weeks at 32 hours a week

      • To allow for additional diversity in supervised practice, our program will allow for a portion of the community rotation to be completed in a virtual setting. Still, a majority of the rotation should be completed in an in-person experience. 

    • 320 hours of clinical nutrition; 10 weeks at 32 hours a week

    • Due to the rigor of the combined Distance Dietetic Internship and Master of Science in Nutrition degree (DDI/MS) plan of study, your are encouraged to reduce your supervised practice rotations to 32 hours per week.

*Students completing the Distance Dietetic Internship only pathway, may wish to do rotations at 40 hours per week.

These sample schedules will help you visualize what your individual experience could look like over the 9-month Graduate Certificate program. 

All rotation sites must be identified by June 1st prior to the start of the program. You will submit your list of rotation sites with the following documents: Preceptor commitment form confirming commitment to providing the supervised practice experience, preceptor resume, and proof of license and credentialing as appropriate. During the summer, the internship program administrators will obtain all necessary affiliation agreements and ensure the preceptors complete preceptor orientation. If you fail to secure your rotations by the June deadline, you risk delay of graduation or removal from the program.

The internship program administrators will work on affiliation agreements with rotation sites on a rolling basis as soon as students submit their plans. Late submissions of plans will delay graduation. If rotation sites are not secure (which includes signed affiliation agreements) by the first day of classes within the semester, students may not begin supervised practice. They may begin once all paperwork is finalized. This delay in start date may delay graduation. Once a student gets more than a semester behind they will need to reapply to the program.

Resources for Securing Rotation Sites:

It is ultimately the responsibility of the student to evaluate the precepting resources in their geographic area to determine their ability to be successful in a distance program. However, our program supports students' timely completion of the program by providing recruitment resources, advising, and support through the supervised practice design process. 

Resources