Any parents with students who have gone through the application and matching process for dietetic internship?
What are other options if do not get matched? Try again next year? Is it worth it?
Apparently internship is quite competitive though RD salaries are not that great.
My DD completed her Dietetic internship last year. At that time, only half of the applicants matched with an internship on the first round, but then they had the opportunity to look at sites which hadn’t matched with students during the first round and some matched then. After that, students either waited a year or chose the option to design their own internship.
A few of her friends chose not to do the internship and went to grad school instead to focus more on research or applying the knowledge they had learned. They can’t be an RDN without completing the internship and passing the boards, but that was their choice.
You’re right about the salaries being low and where we live, full time jobs are few and far between. Her friends from her internship are only starting to secure full time jobs and they passed their boards last fall.
Unfortunately, like some other health professions, dietetics is undervalued. Reimbursement by insurance and Medicare is poor and others seem to feel they can do the same job without all of the education and training.
Thank you for your response.
My DD does not want grad school, she wants to be a RD through internship and the exam, nutrition is her passion. I couldn’t swayed her for another major. You are absolutely right, dietetics is so undervalued, hence the low pay.
I have not talked to her about options if she does not get matched. She might have plans but I am afraid to ask. She has depression problem, so I have to be careful with her. She does not want to share much with us. At this point I am so worried and hope she can cope if she does not get matched.
Hasn’t been easy this past 3 years of college, she is diligent but struggles at times with academics, but never gives up. I am praying things will work out for her.
One of my DD’s friends is doing the type of internship where she sets up all of the experiences herself and, although it’s more work to do it that way, she’s likes it and it suited her life situation. It seems like some students who don’t initially match choose to do this as well. When my DD was researching her internship options, she was provided with a lot of information to help her make the decision including how many interns each location takes, what they look for in applicants and the focus of each internship. This really helped my daughter narrow down where she wanted to apply.
The internship ranking process was definitely stressful as was the internship itself, but it was a good life experience for her.
Let me know if you have other questions.