Tentative Schedule

Dietetic Internship: Schedule 2008 - 2009

July 23 - August 1, 2008 Orientation
August 4, 2008 Rotations Begin
Community and Nutrition Therapy in Harrisburg and Hershey, Pennsylvania
November 27-28, 2008 Thanksgiving Holiday
December 22, 2008 to
January 4, 2009		 Winter Break
January 5 - February 13, 2009 Management Rotation at PSU Food Services in State College, PA
February 16 - March 6, 2009 Research Rotation in State College, PA
March 9 - April 3, 2009 Enrichment Rotation
April 6-10, 2009 Professional development/legislation in State College, PA
April 10, 2009 Graduation
All dates are tentative and rotations subject to change.
Detailed rotation schedules are provided during orientation.

Housing

All dates are tentative and rotations subject to change.
Detailed rotation schedules are provided during orientation.

Dietetic Internship Experiences

The dietetic internship begins with orientation and didactic classes at one of the Penn State campuses. During this week, interns become familiar with campuses and internship rotations. Following orientation, interns begin a variety of rotations. Interns will observe and assist preceptors and staff members with the intent of mastering the skills they observe. Throughout the rotations, interns will receive constructive performance appraisals of their progress and potential areas of self-improvement. Preceptors, the internship director and internship site coordinators will provide performance feedback to interns during and at the conclusion of each rotation. Additionally, interns attend dietetic association meetings and seminars, participate on field trips and contribute in other activities that will enhance their professional development and leadership capabilities.

Rotations

The PSU internship prides itself in the caliber of each rotation by utilizing the world-class faculty and facilities available to our campus.

Community-based Nutrition Rotation

Community nutrition programs are becoming an increasing interest for dietetic professionals. The PSU dietetic internship offers many opportunities for interns to explore these programs.In this rotation, interns will be working with Cooperative Extension in the Harrisburg, PA area. Learning experiences range from food demonstrations to developing educational materials for lower income children and adults.

Medical Nutrition Therapy Rotation

The medical nutrition therapy rotation will take place at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, (http://www.hmc.psu.edu) located in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The medical center, home of Penn State's College of Medicine, is a 507 - bed tertiary -care teaching hospital providing specialized services in internal nutrition, oncology, renal disease, cardiology and pediatrics to residents of Central Pennsylvania. The medical center's nutrition staff includes 16 registered dietitians, half of which have completed advanced degrees. Interns will receive approximately 30 didactic hours of training in medical nutrition therapy at this site under the supervision of an internship site coordinator. The rotation will provide interns with practical experience in nephrology, trauma/critical care and pediatric units. Theory and didactic experiences will be incorporated into the practical experiences through interactive learning, case studies and special projects.

Management Rotation

The primary site for the food systems management rotation will be the Penn State Food Services at University Park. Penn State Food services is the largest independent university food service in the Western Hemisphere, purchasing over 13 million in goods per year and providing 17,000 meals per day. Interns will get a comprehensive experience while rotating through all the positions in this food service operation. They will learn the complexity of forecasting, ordering and purchasing for a large food service institution. And they will have the opportunity to assist in sanitation inspections, employee training and quality control.

Nutrition Research Rotation

Towards the end of the internship, interns will be exposed to the world class research that occurs at the University Park Campus. Sites include General Clinical Research Center Metabolic Kitchen (Penny Kris-Etherton, PhD, RD), Ingestive Behavior (Barbara Rolls, PhD) and New Food Products Development (Peter Bordi, PhD). It is a unique opportunity to be able to meet and work with many of the leaders in nutrition research.

Enrichment Rotation

The intent of the enrichment rotation is for the intern to further develop skills in an area of dieteics that interests them.. Sites can include Health South Rehabilitation, Mount Nittany Medical Center (small community hospital), Centre Medical and Surgical Associates, and Blair Medical Associates.

Furthermore, if an intern would rather choose to explore another opportunity instead of one of the rotations mentioned, they would be able to do so if they met the following criterion:

  1. Identify an area of interest in the field of dietetics
  2. Identify at least 10 competencies that would be met during this rotation
  3. Contact a site and preceptor to complete the rotation
  4. Have a letter of agreement from the site and preceptor detailing the competencies, experiences, and evaluation methods
  5. Submit to the Dietetics Program Director for approval by January 31st.