Dietetic Internship Program

Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital

Chicago Program Intro Program Information Program Rotations Program Mission & Goals Financial Information Application Information Comments from Our Graduates Life in Chicago Hines VAMC Web Site About the Hospital

Join us for our VIRTUAL open house Friday, January 7, 2022 at 2:00pm - 4:00pm CST.

Contact Candice West, Director of the Dietetic Internship, at candice.west@va.gov to RSVP.



About Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital

Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, located 12 miles west of downtown Chicago on a 147-acre campus, offers primary, extended and specialty care to veteran patients in the Chicagoland area. We are the largest VA in the state of Illinois, where more than a million veterans live. Specialized clinical programs at Hines VA include Blind Rehabilitation, Spinal Cord Injury, Neurosurgery, Radiation Therapy and Cardiovascular Surgery just to name a few.

Hines currently operates 483 inpatient hospital beds and six community based outpatient clinics (CBOCs) in Kankakee, Oak Lawn, Aurora, LaSalle, Hoffman Estates, and Joliet. Hines represents virtually the entire spectrum of VA healthcare and clinical programs.

The internship curriculum at Hines VA Hospital has provided interns with academic excellence in a clinical setting for over 75 years. The first class of dietetic interns to graduate from Hines VA Hospital was in 1944. In addition to the core competencies required in the curriculum of all practice programs, Hines offers a Medical Nutrition Therapy concentration. Our program prepares entry-level dietitians through an integrated approach that reinforces and builds upon the required Dietetics academic preparation. Ten interns will be admitted to the program on a yearly basis. The Hines Dietetic Internship is a 42 week program, with each intern progressing through various Clinical, Food Service Systems Management, and Community Nutrition unit rotations. Unit rotations build upon one another and are designed to develop an appreciation for the interrelationship between the various areas of practice in nutrition and dietetics.

Please note: Effective September 2021, Hines VA Dietetic Interns will be required to be fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to challenge the VA with health, societal, and economic impacts on Veterans, staff, family members, and communities. In addition, transmission of circulating viral variants raises public health concerns that hospitalization rates will rise, along with serious or fatal outcomes for those that contract COVID-19.

Program Director's Message

Effective January 1, 2024, the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) will require a minimum of a master’s degree to be eligible to take the credentialing exam to become a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN). In order to be approved for registration examination eligibility with a bachelor’s degree, an individual must meet all eligibility requirements and be submitted into CDR's Registration Eligibility Processing System (REPS) before 12:00 midnight Central Time, December 31, 2023. For more information about this requirement visit CDR's website: https://www.cdrnet.org/graduatedegree. In addition, CDR requires that individuals complete coursework and supervised practice in program(s) accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND). Graduates who successfully complete the ACEND-accredited Dietetic Internship program at Edward Hines Jr. VA hospital are eligible to apply to take the CDR credentialing exam to become an RDN.

Hines Dietetic Internship will require a Master's degree to apply to the program for the 2023-2024 internship year.

In most states, graduates also must obtain licensure or certification to practice. For more information about state licensure requirements click here.

For more information about educational pathways to become a RDN click here.

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