Dietetic Internship Program
Program Overview
The Dietetic Internship (DI) program is administered by the Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Director of the DI is Professor Sharon M. Donovan, PhD, RD. Dr. Donovan has been a faculty member at the University of Illinois since 1991, and has served as DI Director since August 2008. Please contact her if you have questions about the DI program.
The DI is designed to meet or exceed each of the Competencies/Learning Outcomes for a Dietetic Internship Program, as established by the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education (CADE) of the American Dietetic Association. The program is 36 weeks, full time, beginning in August and ending in May of each year. The program provides 1236 supervised practice hours in clinical, community and food service administration. Completion of the University of Illinois DI Program fulfills all CDR requirements for supervised practice hours in order to take the Registration Exam.
The DI accepts 4 interns each year. The program is restricted to students who are already enrolled in the M.S. or Ph.D. degree program in Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition or Division of Nutritional Sciences and have a Verification Statement from an accredited Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD). In 2010, the DI was approved to participate in the preselect option for matching dietetic interns. Click on Prospective Applicants for information on the DI application requirements and process.
The emphasis area for the University of Illinois DI program is research. Students are required to perform independent research for their graduate degree. In addition, interns complete a research project linked to one of the rotation sites during the internship program. Graduates from this program are well prepared to assess the needs of their target populations, develop appropriate research questions, identify funding sources, carry out new programs/research, and objectively assess these programs' effectiveness.
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