This is the handbook that is used during the internship. It delineates program requirements, successful completion information and other topics of interest to the intern.
Discrimination Policy
Iowa State University does not discriminate on the basis of race,
color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity,
sex, martial status, disability, or status as a U.S. veteran. Inquiries
can be directed to the Director of Equal Opportunity and Diversity,
3680 Beardshear Hall, (515) 294-7612.
Policies and Procedures
Interns are considered full-time ISU non-degree seeking undergraduate students thus the policies and procedures as noted in the ISU catalog apply for the following items: withdrawal and refund of tuition and fees, protection of privacy of information, access to personal files, access to student support services, and grievance procedures.
The program carries Class A professional liability insurance for all enrolled interns. Interns are required to carry health/medical and automobile insurances.
The program is not liable for illness, injury or accident while on site during rotations during supervised practice and during travel to/from assigned areas.
An example of the internship schedule. This shows how the program is divided across the internship weeks and rotations.
An example of the internship schedule. This shows how the program is divided across the internship weeks and rotations
Intern Responsibilities
- Submit proof of health insurance coverage
- Submit required health history and immunization records
- Sign a release to conduct a criminal and abuse background check (see completion requirements)
- Note: Intern will participate in additional screening (at own cost) upon facility request.
- Have access to the internet
- Have access to a computer with a WebCt supported browser and plug-in's
as needed.
- Plug-ins and Players
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- Flash
- RealMedia Player
- Authorware Webplayer
The Dietetics Internship uses WebCT for course delivery. There are
no specific hardware requirements for WebCT. WebCT's requirements focus
on the web browser, and the WebCT Browser Tuneup is located at http://www.webct.com/tuneup.
If you are using a supported browser with the required configuration,
you will almost certainly have the required hardware to be able to
use WebCT.
Curriculum, Course Number, and Credits
- Medical Nutrition Therapy (approximately 560 hours experience)
- Medical Dietetics I, FSHN 442, 8 undergraduate credits. Biological basis of medical, drugs, and diet therapy for selected pathologies. Consideration of factors in planning and conducting nutrition care of patients. Integration of principles with clinical experience.
- Medical Dietetics II, FSHN 443/543, 3 undergraduate OR graduate
credits. Supervised clinical experience in assessing, implementing, and evaluating nutrition care of individuals with various medical conditions.
- Community Nutrition: (approximately 120 hours experience)
- Community Dietetics, FSHN 445, 5 undergraduate credits. Supervised experience in planning and providing nutrition care for
individuals and groups in community settings.
- Experience in Dietetics, FSHN 446, 2 undergraduate credits. Supervised experience in planning and providing nutrition education for individuals and groups in a variety of dietetic settings.
- Operations Management: (approximately 280 hours experience)
- Dietetics Management, FSHN 441, 5 undergraduate
credits. Supervised participation in food production and delivery
- Professional Assessment (Portfolio Design), FSHN 448, 1
undergraduate credit. Information and practice assessing and evaluating the interns' professional development and continuing professional education needs.
Internship Completion Requirements
Interns must complete the required hours of supervised practice and
demonstrate satisfactory performance and competency throughout program
rotations as evaluated by ISU faculty members and facility preceptors.
One criterion of successful completion of this program is that the
intern successfully completes all requirements of the internship, many
of which include direct patient/client access or contact. If the criminal
and abuse background check reveals questionable information, an intern
may be denied direct patient/client access in precepting facilities.
This will result in unsuccessful completion of the program. Upon
acceptance to the ISU Dietetics Internship, the "background check" forms
will be sent to the intern. The intern returns the completed
forms to ISU for review.
To be eligible to sit for the RD exam, one must possess a Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD) Verification Statement and a Dietetic Internship (DI) Verification Statement. For information on achieving the DPD Verification Statement see the ISU DPD site or the CADE website.
To receive the DI verification Statement from ISU, one must
- Successfully complete all requirements of the ISU DI program; and provide the following to the program director prior to beginning the ISU DI program:
- Official transcript documenting completion of a minimum of a BS degree from a US regionally accredited college or university and date of conferral of degree.
- If education was completed outside of the US and its territories, an original degree equivalency statement from an approved agency confirming the degree is equivalent to at least a BS degree. (See this website and select "International" for approved agencies).
- Original DPD Verification Statement signed by the program director in ink other than the color black and dated with month/date/year in two places indicating date of program completion and date signed by program director.
Specific information about successful completion of the internship as found in the Intern Handbook.
Information about the ADA Competencies that are met throughout this internship and its planned rotations and assignments. Note that all learning outcomes, required and suggested activities, assignments and evaluation criteria have been developed by the ISU DI faculty.
An example of internship assignments. This provides information about the assignments that are completed during the internship.
Evaluation Forms
The evaluation forms used throughout the internship to assess the intern’s progress and skill development.
University Holidays and Recess
Holidays are observed as they are scheduled on the University
Calendar and facility schedules. University breaks are NOT observed,
including spring, Thanksgiving, semester, and inclement weather breaks.
Time lost due to illness or emergencies must be made up in order to complete
the required hours of practice. All absences must be reported by phone
to ISU faculty and facility preceptor in any supervised practice facility
to which you are assigned. Exceptions will be made only for just cause
and with the approval of the program director and the precepting facility.
Calendar/University Holidays
January - June Internship Class
- Martin Luther King Day Observed
- Memorial Day Observed
June - November Internship Class
- July 4th Observed
- Labor Day Observed
