Current Illinois State Students
Professional Practice / Internships
Dietetics Programs Offered by Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) offers both an accredited undergraduate DPD program and an accredited combined Master’s Degree – Dietetic Internship.
The accredited DPD program at ISU offers the courses needed to be eligible for a dietetic internship. The Food, Nutrition, and Dietetics (FND) option in the B.S. degree in Family and Consumer Sciences meets the American Dietetic Association (ADA) Standards of Education degree and course requirements for dietetic internship (DI) eligibility. The FND curriculum has few electives and requires a broad range of courses with emphasis in the life sciences, social sciences, food, nutrition, and dietetics practice. Dr. Robert Cullen, the DPD Program Director, evaluates your coursework and issues a Verification Statement of Program Completion when you successfully complete your degree from ISU. This satisfies the first two steps to becoming a registered dietitian (R.D.). Additional information about our DPD program and courses is available at our DPD program web site and in the Undergraduate Catalog. An excellent source of information about dietetics careers, resources and educational requirements to become a R.D. is available at the following American Dietetic Association web site.
The Dietetic Internship at ISU is an accredited, 21 month internship program that combines both the internship with a Master’s degree. Completion of the Master’s degree is required to complete the dietetic internship and be eligible to take the R.D. exam. The combined M.S.-DI program at ISU participates in the D & D Digital matching process, the February application deadline, and begins in August. Additional information is available at the Dietetic Internship web site. The Master’s degree coursework includes the three departmental core courses, advanced courses in nutrition and medical nutrition therapy, two internship seminars, the three professional practice experience rotations in the Clinical, Community, and Food service areas; and other elective course(s). Additional information about the Master’s degree and courses is available in the Graduate Catalog. Interns have the option of either a 33 sem. hr thesis option and gain experience planning, conducting, writing, and presenting their research; or a 39 sem. hr non-thesis option, requiring additional academic coursework.
A unique feature of our internship is that interns gain experiences from more than six different practice sites with a minimum of two in each of the professional practice areas of clinical, community, and food service. This variety of experiences provides the opportunity for our interns to learn different systems and practice styles. This helps interns identify their preferred area of practice and establish their own approach to practice in their careers. Successful completion of both the M.S. degree and all of the internship experiences is required to be eligible to take the R.D. exam. Additional information is available at the Dietetic Internship web site.
