Jobs in dietetics include research, corporate nutrition, clinical dietetics, community nutrition, grocery store, food system management, & more! Also included here are some examples of ideal internships if you choose to specialize in a certain area.
RESEARCH
A dietitian can go straight into research post-internship as a full blown career. Or, in the clinical setting, research and evidence-based practice should be part of one's skill set and utilized simultaneously.
NIH hires research dietitians as well as an internship.
The ideal dietetic researcher will have a masters in science degree in Nutrition (opposed to a masters of art).
Internships Available:
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Internship: 10 months
Emphasis: Clinical Nutrition Research
Cornell University - Ithaca - New York
Internship: 10 months
Emphasis: Research
Louis Stokes Cleveland Medical Center - Veteran Affairs
Graduate degree + Internship: 17 months
Emphasis: Research Processes and Applications
Stipend available
CORPORATE NUTRITION
Work in a business promoting health and wellness! Bass Pro's headquarters is located in Springfield, MO and has a registered dietitian in wellness management for the entire company. She promotes healthy options in the headquarter's cafes that provide breakfast and lunch to employees. She started a garden container competition between departments. And she puts on presentations in collaboration with other dietitians and interns for employees with diabetes and other health concerns. If you are a creative and autonomous worker who likes to think up new ideas and implement them, then this may be the job for you! This job tends to pay better than clinical positions in a hospital.
Internships Available:
California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
Internship - 10 months
Emphasis: Wellness Promotion
University of Florida
Graduate degree + Internship; 25 months
Emphasis: Education and Wellness
California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
Internship - 10 months
Emphasis: Wellness Promotion
McNeese State University
Graduate degree + Internship; 18 months
Emphasis: Nutrition Therapy, Health Promotion
University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Graduate degree (online) + Internship; 27 months
OR Internship only - 11 months
Emphasis: Health Promotion
Wellness Workdays
Internship: 8 months (full time) and 11 months (part time)
Emphasis: Communications, Sports Nutrition, Work Site Wellness
Distance option: Can choose own preceptors
INPATIENT CLINICAL DIETITIAN
The hospital dietitian can work on all floors or on specific floors and see specific patient populations of: cardiovascular disease, COPD, diabetes 1 & 2, pediatrics, gastrointestinal, enteral nutrition, and more. The acute care dietitian focuses on seeing the patients on his or her floor/s quickly, prioritizes nutrition problems to address, and refers patients to outpatient dietitians as needed (which is hopefully often!)
Internships available:
Cox College
Graduate degree + Internship: 22 months (includes summer of staff relief)
OR Internship only: 11 months
Emphasis: Nutrition Diagnostics (Medical Nutrition Therapy & Nutrition-Focused Physical Exam)
Several different Veteran Affairs hospitals offers internships that take place in the inpatient setting and include a stipend!
See list of internships with emphasis in Medical Nutrition Therapy.
COMMUNITY NUTRITION
Community nutrition include the promotion of health and wellbeing at the community level. The dietitian in this setting has an important role in health promotion. Inpatient and outpatient dietitians often only see a certain number of patients/clients for a short amount of time. The community dietitian provides nutrition education and supportive services to enhance healthy lifestyle choices. The government provides a program for Women, Infants, and Children, also known as WIC, to promote optimal nutritional health to pregnant or breastfeeding women, babies, and children up to 5 years old. They can provide supplemental food (i.e. formula, milk, beans, fruits, vegetables, cereal), nutrition education, and are often first in line to address any nutritional concerns such as anemia, undernutrition, or overnutrition. The community dietitian can also work for local extension programs which provide nutrition education to various groups including schools, gardeners, and rural areas.
Internship available:
New Mexico State University
Graduate degree (MS) + Internship: 24 months
Emphasis: Community Nutrition in the Cooperative Extension Service
Queens College - CUNY
Internship: 10 months
Emphasis: Community Nutrition
FOOD SYSTEM MANAGEMENT
Food system management dietitians oversee food systems such as in hospitals and schools. Their job title is often "Director of Food and Nutrition" or something similar. Even though directors often oversee the system, hiring employees as needed, and provide innovative problem solving, the best kind of management is involved in the production and their employees know them by name.
Internships Available:
Western Michigan University
Internship: 10 months
Emphasis: Sustainable Food System
Montana State University - Bozeman
Internship: length unspecified
Emphasis: Sustainable Food System
University of New Hampshire
Graduate degree (MS) + Internship: 21 months
Emphasis: Health Promotion, Sustainable Food System
Prairie View A&M University
Internship: 10 months
Emphasis: School Food System Management
GROCERY STORE
Working in a grocery store was the first job I ever had. So during my internship rotation at Hy-Vee, I got to see how comfortable I was in that environment from my work experiences. If you are a student and wondering if retail dietetics is right for you, get a summer job at a grocery store and see how it feels. Being a grocery store dietitian is an independent role that conducts community nutrition classes for adults and/or kids, grocery store tours on healthy choices to make while shopping, and the promotion of nutritious choices of certain marketable produce and brands.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
A newer aspect of dietetics involves software and ability to speak information technology. Can you be a trailblazer for the dietetic community? With these marketable skills, help design great software systems for dietitians and food management systems to use!
Check out Health Informatics Dietitian, Tamara Melton, MS, RDN, CPHIMS on youtube by Kim Rose Dietitian.
Internship Available:
University of Maryland College Park
Internship: 11 months
Emphasis: Communication & Information Technology Management
CERTIFIED DIABETES EDUCATOR
Whether you are certified as a diabetes educator or not, it is very likely some of your patients will have diabetes.
Fortunately for the field of dietetics, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) keeps up to date on latest practices for healthcare professionals. In January 2019, the ADA recognizes the low-carbohydrate diet as a viable option of Medical Nutrition Therapy for the type II diabetic - actually recognizing the root pathology of insulin-resistance!
Internship Available:
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Internship: 10 months
Emphasis: Diabetes
Cedar Crest College
Internship: 10 months (full time) and 16 months (part time)
Emphasis: Community Nutrition, Diabetes
Distance option available: can choose own preceptors
ENTREPRENEUR
One thing is for sure, the field of dietetics is in need for trailblazers. And in the 21st century with the newest inventions of technology and internet, the potential for a nutrition entrepreneur is limitless! From monetizing a website to seeing your own clients in an outpatient setting to health coaching to collaborating with doctors to promote the nutritional health of patients - entrepreneurship could be for you. It requires innate skills of self-motivation and creative problem solving.
Internship available:
Gulf Coast, Mississippi
Internship: 8 months
Emphasis: Entrepreneurship
Fontbonne University - Missouri
Graduate degree (MA) + Internship: 19 months
Emphasis: Public Policy, Health Promotion (blog writing)
College of St Elizabeth - New Jersey
Graduate degree (MS) + Internship: 24 months
Emphasis: Community Nutrition, Public Health, Entrepreneurship
Brooklyn College
Internship: 9 months
Emphasis: Independent Practice
PROFESSOR
If you like academics, why not get a masters and/or a PhD? A PhD in Nutrition is not that common and universities are looking to hire! And a graduate degree can qualify to teach nutrition at a community college.
Internship available:
University of North Carolina - Greensboro
Internship: 12 months (full time) and 16 months (part time)
Emphasis: Professional Engagement, Teaching in Nutrition & Dietetics
Graduate and PhD degrees and teaching certificate available
Funding available to attend FNCE
OUTPATIENT DIETITIAN
An outpatient dietitian is similar to an inpatient dietitian in that they are skilled in medical nutrition therapy, but outpatient dietitians are privileged in that they get to spend more time with patients/clients, set meaningful nutrition goals, and follow up to monitor and encourage progress. The outpatient dietitian can build relationships with doctors in their healthcare network and encourage them to refer their patients to you for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, eating disorders, and anything else that can be labeled as a nutrition concern.
Internship available:
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Internship: 12 months
Emphasis: Community Health, Nutrition Education
Brooklyn College
Internship: 9 months
Emphasis: Independent Practice
Ohio State University
Graduate degree (MS) + Internship: 23 months
Emphasis: Medical Nutrition Therapy, Sports Nutrition
OR Internship only: 10 months (full time) and 17 months (part time)
Emphasis: Personalized Nutrition and Counseling
Lamar University - Texas
Internship: 11 months
Emphasis: Nutrition Education and Counseling
Graduate degree available
MILITARY DIETITIAN
A dietitian could make a nice living and earn a fair retirement working for the U.S. Army. Dietitians promote optimal nutritional health for military personnel and their family members. They also help provide direction for the food systems within the military.
Read more about Commissary Dietitian here.
Internship available:
U.S. Army - Texas
Graduate degree (MS) + Internship: 12 months
Emphasis: Military Skills
Substantial stipend: 100% tuition paid and salary
See list of internships with emphasis in Medical Nutrition Therapy
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