A dietetic internship is an essential component of the education of students planning to pursue a career as a registered dietitian (RD). In addition to didactic coursework, students must complete 1200 hours of supervised practice in a program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
“Our program would not exist without preceptors in the field,” says Ellen Shanley, director of dietetics in the Department of Allied Health Sciences. “Dietitians in the field are willing to mentor our students. They want to give back, and working with students enriches facilities by exposing clinicians to the most current advances in the field.”
To provide a variety of internship opportunities for students, UConn contracts with more than 80 sites that include hospitals such as Hartford Hospital, UConn Health, Manchester Memorial Hospital, Johnson Memorial Hospital, William W. Backus Hospital, Norwalk Hospital and Middlesex Hospital, as well as community health centers, nursing homes and school districts. Students complete rotations in various areas of practice including clinical nutrition (medical nutrition therapy), nutrition counseling, community nutrition, school nutrition programs, research and food service management.
The newest internship partner is the Connecticut Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA), now accepting interns from UConn and the University of Saint Joseph (USJ). While UConn students previously had been interning at the federally managed Veteran’s Hospital in West Haven, this is the first association with the Connecticut State Veterans Home (soon to be known as the Rocky Hill Veterans’ Center).
