APPLICATION DEADLINE
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Register and get more details by sending an email to: nimoore@augusta.edu or call 706-721-2320.
Nicole M. Moore, MS, RDN, LD
Program Director, MS-Dietetic Internship Program
Assistant Professor - Department of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences
The MS-Dietetic Internship Program is a 21-month program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND). The program has a medical nutrition therapy (clinical) concentration that maximizes the unique variety of medical and health care facilities in the Augusta area.
Effective January 1, 2024, the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) will require a minimum of a master’s degree to be eligible to take the credentialing exam to become a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN). In order to be approved for registration examination eligibility with a bachelor’s degree, an individual must meet all eligibility requirements and be submitted into CDR's Registration Eligibility Processing System (REPS) before 12:00 midnight Central Time, December 31, 2023. For more information about this requirement visit CDR's website. In addition, CDR requires that individuals complete coursework and supervised practice in program(s) accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND). Graduates who successfully complete the ACEND-accredited Dietetic Internship program at Augusta University are eligible apply to take the CDR credentialing exam to become an RDN.
In most states, graduates also must obtain licensure or certification to practice. The Department of Nutrition and Dietetics has determined (April 17 2024) that the required classes and educational activities of this academic program satisfies the requirements of all states and territories requiring state licensure or certification after passing the Registration Examination for Dietitians administered by the Commission of Dietetic Registration and obtaining the Registered Dietitian Nutritionist credential. Visit the Commission on Dietetic Registration to determine the requirements of your state or territory.
Georgia residents state licensureSouth Carolina Residents State Licensure
General Information
Augusta University offers only a MS with a dietetic internship (MS-DI). Admission requirements are available here.
The program is 21-months (full-time) and follows the University’s Academic Calendar. The programs begins in Mid-August and ends in May.
Theoretical and clinical experiences in food service management, clinical dietetics, and community nutrition are provided at appropriate facilities participating in the internship program. Interns are based in the College of Allied Health Sciences at Augusta University, an academic health center which includes Augusta University Health and Children’s Hospital of Georgia, the program’s primary rotation sites. Interns have full access to university student learning resources, including world-class research, internationally known visiting clinicians and scholars, the Greenblatt and Reese libraries, computer labs on both the Health Sciences and Summerville campuses, the Center for Teaching and Learning, and more.
The graduate dietetic program is accredited to accept sixteen (16) graduate student interns each year. Applicants are selected each year on the basis of academic performance, work and volunteer experience in the field, evidence of maturity, interpersonal skills, leadership potential, and self-direction, quality of reference, and compatibility of applicant’s goals with the mission of our program.
Applicants must have a baccalaureate degree or higher from an accredited university and have completed the ACEND (Didactic program in Dietetics) minimum academic requirements with a valid verification statement by the start of the internship.
Upon successful completion of the internship, the graduates will be eligible to take the registration exam for registered dietitian’s nutritionists (RDN).
Augusta Area Dietetic Internship was transferred from the University Hospital Health Care System to Augusta University in 2015. The program has an outstanding record. For the past five years:
Other program outcome data is available on request from the Program Director. The program does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, color, race, handicap, or national or ethnic origin in the recruitment or selection of its students, or in the provision of equal access to all services, benefits, and facilities.
Augusta University
The Augusta University MS-Dietetic Internship is sponsored by Augusta University (formerly known as Georgia Regents University). The program is housed on the health science campus, located in downtown Augusta, Georgia – the second largest city in the State. The University is accredited by the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges (SACSCOC). The University is one of the four public research universities in the University System of Georgia. There are approximately 8,000 students, 1,600 faculty (instructional and clinical) and 3,500 staff members making our university one of the largest of the employer in the region.
The mission of Augusta University is “to provide leadership and excellence in teaching, discovery, clinical care, and service as a student-centered comprehensive research university and academic health center with a wide range of programs from learning assistance through postdoctoral studies”. The dietetic internship is committed to the university’s mission and captures that wholly by their mission statement “to preparing entry level dietitians by providing applied professional experiences to augment the interns’ theoretical knowledge”. The vision is to “be a top-tier university that is a destination of choice for education, health care, discovery, creativity, and innovation”, with the following values:
The member Board of Trustees is appointed by the Governor and they oversee the University System of Georgia. The Board appointed Brooks Keel as the president of Augusta University in 2015. There are nine (9) colleges –Medical College of Georgia, College of Nursing, Katherine Reese Pamplin School of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, The Graduate School, College of Science and Mathematics, The Dental College of Georgia, College of Education, College of Allied Health Sciences, and James M. Hull College of Business– each with several academic departments. The medical college is one of the oldest in the nation and the home of the only state dental college. The university is financially stable with an enterprise budget of $1.3 billion and $757.5 million university budget, of which 23.6% is provided by the state of Georgia.
The College of Allied Health Sciences houses the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Department. The Dietetic Internship program and MS in Nutrition are programs within the department. The department of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences offers programs of study leading to a Master of Science, Master of Public Health and a Doctorate in Applied Health Sciences.
Augusta University is an equal opportunity educational institution based on the student’s academic preparation and ability. The admission decisions are made regardless of sex, gender, color, race, national origin, religion, marital status, age, disabilities or creed. The University follows the policy of not engaging in discrimination or harassment against any person regardless of sexual orientation, race, origin, religion, sex, unfavorable discharge from the military, or status as disabled veteran of the Vietnam period and fulfill with all federal and state nondiscrimination, equal opportunity and regulation.
It is the policy of Augusta University to comply with the Privacy Act of 11974 as well as the Family and Educational Rights. To maintain the student protection of privacy information and the access to files, consent by the intern is required before releasing any information from the intern’s record.
History of the Dietetic Internship
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) is the world's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1917, by a visionary group of women dedicated to helping the government conserve food and improve the public's health and nutrition during World War I. Today, the Academy has over 100,000 credentialed practitioners — registered dietitian nutritionists, dietetic technicians, registered, and other dietetics professionals holding undergraduate and advanced degrees in nutrition and dietetics, and students. The Academy is committed to improving the nation's health and advancing the profession of dietetics through research, education and advocacy.
Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics
The Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND), formerly known as the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education (CADE) is the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' accrediting agency for education programs preparing students and interns for careers as registered dietitian nutritionists (RDN) or dietetic technicians, registered (DTR). ACEND serves and protects students and the public by assuring the quality and continued improvement of nutrition and dietetics education programs.
Compliance with Accreditation Standards
The Augusta University MS-Dietetic Internship program is currently granted accreditation status by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics, 120 S. Riverside Plaza, Suite 2190, Chicago, Ill., 60606, 312-899-4876.
Commission on Dietetic Registration
The Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR), is the credentialing agency and organization unit of the Academy. The purpose is to serve the public by establishing and enforcing standards for certification, recertification and the Code of Ethics and by issuing credentials to individuals who meet these standards. The Academy owns the credentials; however CDR has independent authority in matters pertaining to certification, including standard setting, establishment of certification fees and administering credentialing programs. CDR maintains a registry of over 100,000 credentialed dietetics practitioners.
Credentialing
CDR establishes requirements for eligibility to take the entry-level registration examinations for dietitians and dietetic technicians. Current requirements include academic preparation, supervised practice, and confirmation of academic and practice requirements by verification. These requirements are periodically reviewed and are subject to change.
Academic Degree
Minimum of a Baccalaureate degree granted by a U.S. regionally accredited college/university or foreign equivalent.
Current Minimum Academic Requirements
Completion of an Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) accredited Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD).
Supervised Practice Requirements
All dietetic education programs accredited by ACEND must be in the U.S. or its territories. Supervised practice requirements stipulate completion of one of the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics accredited pathways:
The program at Augusta University is an accredited Dietetic Internship Program only.
State Licensure
Forty-six states have enacted legislation regulating the practice of dietetics. State licensure and state certification are entirely separate and distinct from registration or certification by the Commission on Dietetic Registration.
Nicole Moore, MS, RDN-AP, LD
Assistant Professor & Director
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics
College of Allied Health Sciences
987 St. Sebastian Way EB-1008, Augusta, GA 30912
706-721-2320 706-721-0495
nimoore@augusta.edu