Clinical Nutrition applicant letter

Dear Dietetics Internship Applicant,

Thank you for your interest in the Dietetics Internship at Florida State University (F.S.U.). This program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education (CADE) of the American Dietetic Association. The Commission can be reached through The American Dietetic Association, 120 S. Riverside Plaza, Suite 2000, Chicago, IL 60606-6995 (telephone 312/899-0040 ext 5400) @ http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/CADE.html. F.S.U. has an excellent program and wants to attract students who are interested in graduate studies that lead to the Master of Science (MS) (or Ph.D.) degree and who want to obtain the RD credential based on an internship accredited by CADE and the successful completion of the RD exam.

The Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences at F.S.U. offers a thesis or non-thesis option for the MS degree in four different areas of emphasis which include Nutrition Science, Food Science, Nutrition Education and Health Promotion, Clinical Nutrition or Sports Nutrition. Each area of emphasis requires specific academic preparation and offers an opportunity to carry out research and write an MS thesis under the direction of a faculty member with graduate directive status. Each intern can complete the internship program in conjunction with any of these areas of emphasis. Prospective interns are encouraged to apply to the internship program when they apply to the Master's program; however, internship applications are screened separately after admission to the graduate program has been approved. Admission to the graduate program is a prerequisite for consideration of your application for dietetics internship. The submission deadline for the graduate application is December 15 every year for those who are applying for the dietetics internship. The graduate committee accepts the recommendations made by the references you use for your internship application. The complete internship application packet (ADA form plus FSU DI application form) should be in the NFES office by January 31.

This program participates in the D&D computer matching program. Therefore, you need to send in materials for matching to D&D by the specified deadline. D&D can be accessed at the following website: http://www.dnddigital.com/ada/. You should list the FSU program as your first internship choice when sending materials to D&D Digital Systems, Ames, Iowa, for matching. Acceptance into the internship is based on a department review and ranking of candidates' qualifications. To be admitted to the graduate program, you must have a minimum combined verbal and quantitative score of 1000 on the Graduate Record Examination with no portion of the GRE below 400 and a writing score above 3 as well as a GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for the last 60 credit hours of your undergraduate studies. Regarding recommendations, one should be completed by a current or former employer or supervisor and one by a DPD instructor or your DPD Director (if there is no former employer, two letters from former instructors are acceptable). Do not forget to include your verification of completion form, or intent to complete form, signed by your DPD Director in your application packet. A checklist in the form of the F.S.U. dietetic Internship application form should be completed and included in your dietetic internship application packet. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact either me (850/644-1784; email: mspicer@fsu.edu) or our program assistant, Ursula Tate (850/644-4800; email: utate@fsu.edu). Best wishes.

Sincerely,

Maria T. Spice, PhD, RD, LD/N
Dietetics Internship Director