Curriculum - The Coordinated Dietetic Internship/Master's Degree Program is 16 months in length with the first 11 months devoted to completing the accredited Dietetic Internship Program (50 weeks) and 14 hours of graduate school coursework. View 2009-2010 Program Calendar

Dietetic interns are schedule in Supervised Practice Experiences four days each week (32 hours), Tuesday through Friday, in the fall and spring. During the summer months, May - July) they complete experiences Monday through Friday (40 hours). Currently, the program is 1831 hours with 1487 hours of supervised practice and 344 hours of didactic instruction, including graduate courses, offered over 50 weeks. The program is evaluating a change to 49 weeks that would include 1450 hours of supervised practice and 341 didactic hours for students admitted in August 2009. View 2009-2010 Supervised Practice Experiences

The program offers a single concentration in Research Processes and Applications that has an academic and experiential component. As part of the academic component, each student enrolls in a 3-credit graduate course at CWRU (NTRN 561: Investigative Methods in Nutrition) in the fall semester. At this time students are assigned a Research Preceptor after having the opportunity to learn about research opportunities that are underway and new areas that are possibilities. Every effort is made to match students to their primary area of research interest. The Research Preceptor guides the student through each step of the research process. The research project is initiated during the second phase of the program (January - August). View Examples of Research Projects

As part of the experiential component, five hours are allocated on Monday afternoon in the spring semester for students to finish the Institutional Review Board (IRB) process, if needed, complete data collection, statistical analysis and presentation of results (oral, poster and written). While it is possible in certain circumstances that data analysis and presentation of results may have to be carried over to the third semester of graduate work, students must get to the point of initiating the protocol in order to successfully complete the dietetic internship program and receive a Verification Statement. View Timeline for Completion of Research

Classes for dietetic interns are offered at CWRU on Mondays, morning and afternoon in the fall, and on Monday morning and two evenings each week in the spring. In the final semester of the graduate program, students enroll for at least 13 hours of graduate credit and take a written comprehensive examination in order to complete requirements for the Master's degree. View Requirements for Master's degree

Program Completion:

Dietetic Interns are required to satisfactorily complete all supervised practice rotations, to initiate a research protocol as described under the Research Processes and Applications Concentration and to remain in a satisfactory academic status throughout the internship. A satisfactory level of performance is defined as an overall rating of five or more on the Evaluation of Supervised Practice and at least a 2.75 grade point average in graduate courses.

Accreditation

The program is currently granted continued Accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education of the American Dietetic Association (CADE).

Address:

Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education of the American Dietetic Association
120 S Riverside Plaza, Suite 2000
Chicago, IL 60606-6995
Telephone: (312) 899-0040 or (800) 877-1600