How To Become A Dietetic Internship: What It Is and Career Path

What is a dietetic internship and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Tara Kelly MS, RDN

Dietetic Internships are programs designed to train nutritionists on how to administer nutritional programs and plans. The responsibilities of the participants include promoting nutritional principles, counseling individuals, advising clients on healthy eating, and determining diet restrictions for each client. They test special meals and observe food service operations. During the internship, participants will contribute to the design and implementation of patient nutrition care plans. This would be after identifying and assessing their nutritional needs. Also, they'll review extensive literature while gaining relevant exposure to the dietician's role.

Before applying, you must possess the following skills, time management, organization, listening, communication, and study skills. You must hold a minimum of a bachelor's degree in a related discipline. You may be assigned to work in a normal office environment, on hospital floors, in outpatient settings, and in the foodservice areas. Dietitian Internship earns about $49,388 a year, which is approximately $23.74 an hour.

What general advice would you give to a dietetic internship?

Tara Kelly MS, RDN

Instructor, University of Alabama at Birmingham

For starters, apply to the job. Even if you're worried that you don't meet every qualification listed it is absolutely worth applying to any job you're interested in, because you'll never know if you're the employers ideal candidate unless you try. There are ample specialty trainings and certifications you can enroll in as a graduate to continue refining your expertise, make yourself more marketable, and increase your earning potential. You can also do this by continuing your education to earn an advanced degree or other specialty education to help you in your profession. These may not be dietetics-specific, but skills like being able to do statistics or speak a foreign language could help in certain job settings. If you're not sure where to start with this, look at those job postings that you currently don't think you qualify for and take note of the qualifications on the listing that you feel you're lacking. Are any of these skills that you can learn to make yourself a more qualified applicant for jobs like this and others like it?

ScoreDietetic InternshipUS Average

Salary

5.0

Avg. Salary $64,038

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.2

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.86%

Asian 9.77%

Black or African American 7.80%

Hispanic or Latino 10.82%

Unknown 3.64%

White 67.11%

Gender

female 89.79%

male 10.21%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

7.2

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.9

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a dietetic internship

Explore dietetic internship education requirements

Most common dietetic internship degrees

Bachelor's

80.0 %

Master's

14.2 %

Associate

3.4 %

Start to develop specific dietetic internship skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	23.13%
Diabetes Education	5.43%
Medical Nutrition Therapy	5.13%
Oncology	3.95%
Nutrition Assessments	3.91%

Complete relevant dietetic internship training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New dietetic interns learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a dietetic internship based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real dietetic internship resumes.

Research dietetic internship duties and responsibilities

Collaborate with diabetes educator to achieve AADE accreditation for the diabetes education program and to provide education as an instructor.
Follow up with physician consults, educate patients on nutrition, and take part in IDT meetings and ICU rounds.
Complete clinical dietetic rotations which also include specialty rotations in pediatrics, kidney/liver transplant, oncology, and critical care.
Acquire excellent interdisciplinary communication skills through ICU and nursing rounds.

Prepare your dietetic internship resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your dietetic internship resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a dietetic internship resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable dietetic internship resume templates

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