Food and Nutrition-related experience is important for Dietetic students. It not only helps to build your resume, it also enhances the knowledge you have gained through academics. You will be able to apply your employment to your schooling. Dietetic internship programs look for this experience as a requirement for application. Also, you will be able to build important networks and recommendations. Ideas for employment include, but not limited to:
- Hospital Foodservice
- Nursing Home Foodservice
- Health/Wellness Facilities
- Hospital Diet Clerk/Assistant
- Weight Loss/Diabetes Camps
There are many opportunities that are made available to students through email notification through the FSHN departmental email ListServ. Please take advantage of these unique opportunities that are provided to students. Any contact for the following jobs should be made through human resources unless the job description says otherwise.
During the School Year:
There are many job opportunities available on campus that are willing to work around classes and extracurricular activities. During the semester, past students have worked at:
- Dietetic-related volunteering
- Carle Hospital dietetic technician
- Provena Hospital volunteer
- Nutritional Sciences/Food Science and Human Nutrition undergraduate research assistant or data entry
- Mettler Center dietetic volunteer or part of Fit Force
- UIUC Varsity Room kitchen staff
- National Soybean Research Laboratory: Community Dietetic Assistant
- WIC volunteer
- Cooperative Extension Volunteer
- Teacher’s assistant or grader in a dietetic-related course
- Gordon Food Service (one week or distance opportunity)
- Clark-Lindsey Village: Long-term Care Clinical and Foodservice Experience
Summer Opportunities:
Summer is great times to receive invaluable hand-on experience needed for the dietetic internship. The following are examples of summer experiences that UIUC dietetic students have done in the past:
- Dietetic-related volunteering
- American Diabetes Association Children’s Diabetes Camps
- Camp Granada Diabetes Camp, Monticello, IL
- Camp Joslin Diabetes Camp, Charlton, MA
- Weight Loss Camps
- Foodservice Management Internship Programs
- Home hospital kitchen staff or dietetic technician
- Extension Educators (search by county)
- Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP)
- US Department of Agriculture's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion---Summer Internship
Seniors:
Seniors have the opportunity to apply for a position as a Nutrition Peer Educator. The application is distributed in FSHN 329 during students’ junior year. FSHN 329 is required to apply for this position.
A position as a Nutrition Peer Educator provides valuable experiences that are only available on a campus. They work closely with the McKinley/CRCE dietitian on providing nutrition information to the student population. They participate in such activities as developing educational tools such as presentations and interactive in student resident halls and university buildings. Peer educators also have the opportunity to practice nutrition communication skills by presenting nutrition programs for registered student organizations, dormitories, and sororities.
Exclusion List:
There are many opportunities on- and off- campus. To ensure that students take advantage of the wide-array of dietetic experiences, the exclusion list below was developed. The jobs below can NOT be used for the Verification Statement's work experience hours
- Waitress
- Cashier
- Food service worker
- Food service worker is acceptable if it is in a mass quantity foods environment like a hospitals or resident dining hall.
- Job shadowing
- Job shadowing a dietitian can be very informative; however, watching someone do their job is NOT considered dietetic-related experience. In order for job shadowing to count towards dietetic-related experience hours, some sort of hands-on project must be completed in order to develop skills.
- Catering
Please contact Karen Plawecki (plawecki@illinois.edu) if there is an experience you are not sure if it fits under the exclusion list. Also, if you do have an opportunity to work in one of the positions under the exclusion list, please feel free to do so, however, it will NOT count towards your work experience hours. If you feel like you are learning valuable skills from one of the "exclusion list experiences" which will help you to succeed in your future career as a registered dietitian, please contact Karen Plawecki to inquire.