Dear Applicant,

Welcome to the VA San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS) Dietetic Internship website. We hope you will find the answers to all of your questions while perusing our site. You must be a U.S. citizen to participate in our dietetic internship program.

The VASDHS Dietetic Internship was established in 1973, one year after the hospital opened. We received our ten year re-accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education of the American Dietetic Association in October 2006.

Approximately 274,000 veterans live in San Diego County, our primary service area. Our medical center is located 10 miles north of downtown San Diego and two miles north of downtown La Jolla. The VASDHS provides a wide range of inpatient and outpatient health services at the 242-bed medical center in La Jolla, and at the five community clinics located in Chula Vista, Escondido, Imperial Valley, Mission Valley and Vista. We are affiliated with the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and provide training for over 780 medical interns, residents and fellows, as well as 64 other teaching affiliations for nursing, pharmacy and dental. VASDHS has one of the largest research programs in the nation.

Our Nutrition and Food Service provides quality nutritional care through its efficiently operated foodservice section, highly respected clinical nutrition care program, and extensive outpatient education services. Dietitians are consultants to professional, administrative, and medical staff. They coordinate nutrition intervention services with total patient care in both acute and primary managed care environments by assessing nutritional status, developing nutrition care plans, and recommending modalities for achieving nutritional goals. Research, which includes assisting physicians with nutrition related studies, is an important component of the dietitian's work at this facility.

This ten-month "general emphasis" program enables you to achieve eligibility for the registration exam administered by the Commission on Dietetic Registration. Our general program provides didactic and clinical learning that may begin in a classroom and continue at the patient's bedside. Or, it may start in a patient planning conference followed by informal consultation or lecture and further discussion. The VASDHS libraries, laboratories and research facilities, and professional staff of all participating institutions contribute to a free exchange of knowledge and skill. We are very proud of our graduates. We have an excellent pass rate on the registration exam administered by the Commission on Dietetic Registration. Our graduates are employed in all areas of dietetics including clinical, community, management and private practice.

If you have any questions unanswered by our website you may contact me by phone at (858)552-8585 ext 3781 or send an e-mail to Teresa.Bush-Zurn@va.gov. The postmark deadline for application packets is February 16, 2010. Notification day will be Monday, April 5, 2010. The San Diego Dietetic Internship Program begins in late August and ends in May.

Thank you for your interest in our program.

Sincerely,

Teresa Bush-Zurn, MA, RD, FADA
Dietetic Internship Director
Nutrition and Food Service (120)
VA San Diego Healthcare System
3350 La Jolla Village Drive
San Diego, California 92161-1591
(858)552-8585 ext. 3781