dietetic internships and career as a dietitian

[Egg_McMuffin]

So apparantly my thread from a few days ago got deleted as part of a glitch. Here's my second attempt at this--I have a couple of questions, if anyone can give any insight it would be much appreciated

 

1) Just how competitive are the dietetic internship spots?

2) What can I do to make myself a competitive applicant? Will good grades (4.0s or close to that) + volunteering/job shadowing suffice?

3) Looking for any insights from someone who's an RD about the job--e.g. what you like/don't like about the field, regrets, advice, etc.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Angelia]

So apparantly my thread from a few days ago got deleted as part of a glitch. Here's my second attempt at this--I have a couple of questions, if anyone can give any insight it would be much appreciated

 

1) Just how competitive are the dietetic internship spots?

2) What can I do to make myself a competitive applicant? Will good grades (4.0s or close to that) + volunteering/job shadowing suffice?

3) Looking for any insights from someone who's an RD about the job--e.g. what you like/don't like about the field, regrets, advice, etc.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

I'm currently completing a dietetic internship so maybe I can answer a couple of these for you.

 

1) Very. The latest stats I heard were about 1/5. You only get to apply to three programs so it really limits you. Some programs only accept 2-4 people. I know some programs which interview everyone who applies, (i.e. a couple of programs interviewed 70-80 people for 4 spots).

2) Good grades definitely help. Most programs have a minimum cut off. Other than that they look at your personal letter, resume, references. They want to see a commitment to dietetics in your activities. Each program has different things that they weigh more heavily. That gets you to the interview. After that, the interview is weighted pretty heavily in who gets ranked the highest.

3) Dietetics has a lot of opportunities - food service, community, public health, home care, long term care, acute care, industry etc. so you will probably find something you love in one of these many areas. It has a good lifestyle: the typical 9-5 M-F. I can't comment too much on working as an RD, because I'm still in internship. But if you have any more questions feel free to pm me.