Application, Admissions, and Completion Requirements

Eligibility to match to the internship includes the requirement to submit a transcript indicating conferral of a master’s degree from an accredited institution, or an Intent to Complete Master’s Degree form, indicating that this degree will be awarded prior to September 1st of the upcoming internship year. Intent-to-complete forms must be signed by the applicant’s academic advisor. Failure to complete the master’s degree by the date specified will result in delay in starting the internship, or dismissal from the program at the discretion of the internship director.

Qualified students in the MPH in Public Health Nutrition who are near to completion of their degree may be allowed to complete their final courses, Fieldwork, Capstone, one 3-credit elective during the internship term. Completion of the Nutrition and Dietetic Internship and issuance of a DI Verification Statement will be contingent on completion of the MPH degree requirements.

The courses included as part of the Nutrition and Dietetic Internship FNPH 690, FNPH 691 and FNPH 692 will be substituted for Fieldwork, Capstone, and one 3-credit elective in the MPH in Public Health Nutrition. Substitutions will be made with approval of the student’s academic advisor, through the current course substitution policy and procedure of CUNY SPH.

Qualified students in the MPH in Public Health Nutrition program may opt for direct enrollment into the Nutrition and Dietetic Internship through the pre-select option, without having to complete a separate DI application.

Requests for consideration under the pre-select option will be submitted to the Internship Director on or before December 31st each year. This will include a cover letter requesting pre-select admission to the internship, DPD Verification Statement, and approval for course substitutions from their MPH academic advisor as described above. The request letter will also specify which track of the internship (onsite or distance) is being requested.

Pre-select requests will be reviewed, and students notified of decisions before February 1st.

Up to 50% of internship positions will be filled via the pre-select mechanism. All remaining positions will be made available through the DICAS matching process.

The on-line (distance) track will enroll up to 20 interns per year. For this track, interns enroll as non-credit / non-degree students. All distance interns locate their own rotation sites, and plan their own schedules prior to enrolling in the internship, similar to ACEND’s Individualized Supervised Practice Pathways (ISPPs).

As with the on-site track, applications for the distance track must be submitted to DICAS and D&D Digital by the applicable deadlines. There can be no exceptions to this practice.

In addition, distance track internship applicants must submit a supplemental application describing the rotation sites that she/he has identified for supervised practice and the contact information for the prospective preceptor(s) at those sites. This packet must also include a brief letter-on-intent from each prospective preceptor. All rotation sites to be utilized by distance interns will be required to execute an affiliation agreement with the CUNY SPH. Preceptors’ qualifications will be reviewed as per Internship policy.

The Internship supports the policy of equal opportunity and Affirmative Action as set forth by CUNY SPH and the Board of Trustees of the City University of New York. The Department of Nutrition and Food Science at CUNY SPH will fill dietetic intern positions with qualified individuals, without regard to race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, disability, genetic predisposition or carrier status, pregnancy, childbirth or related conditions, alienage, citizenship, military or veteran status, or status as victim of domestic violence.

Prospective international student applicants should consult the Office of International Students regarding visa requirements.

Completed applications submitted by the application deadlines, and demonstrating compliance with all application requirements, will be reviewed by the internship selection committee.

Incomplete and/or late applications will not be considered. Applicants are responsible for being aware of the application deadlines.

Interns will be notified of their acceptance by the internship director.

Accepted interns must contact the DI Director to accept their placements. Failure to do so may result in the loss of placement.

The wait list is composed entirely of applicants to our program who were ranked, but not enrolled, and who did not enroll in any other internship. In the event of an intern being unable to accept a placement, or dropping out early in the program (before the end of September), an alternate from the wait list will be contacted and offered the vacated position. Should the first alternate decline the position, the next ranked person will be contacted and so on until the position is filled. 

Note that since program drop-outs are infrequent, applicants will not be individually informed of their relative ranking for matching, or placement on the wait list. A $100 application fee is required for all applicants.

It is the intern’s responsibility to be certain that each prospective preceptor is qualified, and desires to precept at this time.

Preceptors identified by distance interns will be required to meet the qualification requirements to serve as a preceptor described below, and their site must execute an affiliation agreement with CUNY SPH prior to the intern commencing a rotation at that site.

According to ACEND’s 2022 Standards for Dietetic Internships, “preceptors must have the education and experience needed to provide appropriate guidance for supervised practice experiences. Preceptors must be licensed, as appropriate to meet state and federal regulations, or credentialed, as needed, for the area in which they are supervising interns.”

Consistent with the policies of CUNY SPH, preceptors must be a Registered Dietitian (RD/RDN) with at least 1 year of practice experience post-registration to supervise the clinical / MNT rotations. 

For other rotations, the RD/RDN credential is desirable, and all preceptors must have a degree, certification, or at least 1 year of experience in a nutrition or dietetics related field.

Prospective preceptors must demonstrate excellent communication skills orally and in writing and collaborate with Internship Director on a continual basis.

Any questions regarding qualifications and/or responsibilities of preceptors are to be referred to the Internship Director.

Start with who you already know. As a DPD student, you began your professional networking with classmates, faculty, supervisors for fieldwork, practicum, or volunteer work, employers and others. Attending local nutrition and dietetics activities may have further expanded your network. 

The first people you should ask about prospective preceptors and rotation sites are your friends and acquaintances, especially if any are RDs. People you may know in related health professions, such as nurses or speech pathologists, may work with RDs in clinical practice who can help you to secure a rotation site.

Look around your neighborhood. What are the organizations and institutions that serve your area? Schools, Head Start, WIC, Cooperative Extension, Department of Health, faith-based or civic organizations, food pantries, soup kitchens, or community gardens, all may provide opportunities for practice experiences in food and nutrition education, food service management, or other areas. Your local community college or health-related charity may be a good place to explore community-based research.

Cast a wider net. When looking for additional opportunities, or an experience in a very specific specialty, an internet search may be the way to go. Search for potential opportunities and contact the organization(s) you find. Even if they are too far away, or are unable to serve as your preceptor(s), they may know of a better option for you.

Have an attitude of service to the sites. When seeking locations and preceptors for your dietetic internship supervised practice, make it a two-way street. Think of how what you will do can be of benefit to the preceptor, her/his organization, and their patients/clients. In addition to what they will do for you in providing you with an opportunity for supervised practice, what will you be doing for them? 

Think this through before you call or visit the site. Being prepared to be of benefit can be the key to winning over a preceptor. Some examples of potentially beneficial abilities include fluency in a second language, computer skills, or skills acquired in a previous career or hobby. Be creative in arriving at a mutually beneficial plan.

To assist you in creating your program to parallel our on-site program, a sample rotation schedule is posted below.

All supervised practice sites are required to execute an affiliation agreement (contract) with CUNY SPH before an intern starts a rotation there. Note that these are not initiated until after an individual has been accepted into the internship.

Vacation and Holidays at the CUNY SPH are according to the CUNY Academic Calendar. However, interns’ supervised practice hours are set in collaboration with the preceptor(s) at each site. Scheduled work hours set with a preceptor take precedence over the CUNY calendar.

Students will access the Brightspace learning management system for all instructional materials. Unless stated otherwise, students are to upload assignments, review announcements, and communicate regularly via the Brightspace system.

Students are also required to have the following items and complete the following tasks:

-Use or create an email account that will be available during the entire term of the CUNY SPH Nutrition and Dietetic Internship
-High speed internet connectivity
-Computer or laptop with at least 128MB RAM – regularly updated with antivirus and anti-malware programs
-Microsoft Office installed on the computer or laptop
-Access to a scanner