Completion Requirements

During the course of the program, interns are to meet all requirements and assignments outlined in the Dietetic Internship syllabus.

All dietetic interns are required to complete at least 1200 hours of supervised practice experience as defined by the standards of the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND).

Interns will be expected to complete the following major projects:

  • Major clinical case study and presentation
    The intern will follow a patient throughout their hospital admission and be responsible for the assessments and diet education under RD supervision. A presentation of the disease state and nutrition course will be presented to staff and peers.
  • Administrative project
    Interns will work in groups and plan the staffing, organization and program focus for a selected area of improvement within a clinical nutrition department in a hypothetical hospital system. An innovative idea for the integrated clinical nutrition department will be a focus.
  • Process improvement project and presentation
    Interns will work in groups on an identified departmental process improvement project focusing in the clinical, outpatient, administrative or food service areas. Past projects have included follow-up bariatric surgery appointments, tube feeding administration and retail food labeling.
  • National Nutrition Month project
    Interns will promote National Nutrition Month with a variety of activities, including patient education, display tables, classes at child and adult day care sites, articles in the Johns Hopkins newsletters and others.
  • Preceptor appreciation
    Interns will recognize programs preceptors during the month of April.
  • Abstract and poster presentation at the annual Maryland AND conference
  • Journal Club
    Each intern will conduct a journal club with staff and peers on a clinical nutrition topic.
  • Mini seminar
    Each intern will provide staff and peers with current research on a nutrition or food topic of interest.

Interns will be evaluated as follows:

  • At the completion of each rotation by the clinical dietitian preceptor
  • Mid-term and final cumulative evaluation by the internship program director
  • Evaluation for each of the major projects and presentations
  • All course work accompanying each rotation will be reviewed by the internship coordinator.

The intern is expected to meet professional competencies, standards of professional practice and standards of conduct established by the internship program. Interns must achieve an average of 85 percent or greater to graduate from the program. A verification statement will be provided upon completion of the program.