Happy Tuesday y’all! We got through Monday, so this week can only get easier from here, right? 😉 I’m trying something new this week in response to a suggestion from a reader (yes, I do listen to y’all!). The whole point of this blog is to inform you, my readers, about the different options for your dietetic internship. However, the time I’ve put into even getting an interviews has been more than I can afford. So while I still plan to share interns’ personal experiences, you will be seeing much more consistent content giving a general background on internships, such as the SFA Dietetic Internship.
Stephen F. Austin State University is a school of nearly 13,000 students located in Nachogdoches (pronounced Nak-a-do-chez), Texas. The school established their dietetic internship in 1992 and were recently reaccredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) in 2012. SFA’s internship accepts 10 of the roughly 30 to 40 people that apply each spring.
SFA DI Requirements
The SFA Dietetic Internship looks for students with a minimum 3.2 overall and 3.4 GPA for all DPD courses. Applicants must have a GRE with scores of at least 150 on the verbal sections, 141 on the quantitative sections, and a 3.0 on the writing section.
While officially, the school’s internship emphasizes community and public health, the main DI page likes to point out that many of the graduate professors have an interest in “integrative and functional nutrition/medicine.” Based on that, some coursework could have that perspective built into it.
During the 11-month long internship (July-June), interns take 21 credit hours of graduate coursework. If students wish to complete a degree, they can take 15 more credits to earn an M.S. in Nutrition from SFA.
In a typical week during the fall and spring semesters, interns spend most of their time in rotations. Mondays focus on classes, while Tuesdays-Fridays 8:00a-5:00p are for the internship rotations. Exact times and days will depend on the rotations, and interns may work some hours different from Tuesday to Friday 8-5. During the first summer, interns take an introductory course for the internship. Later, the second summer has a more flexible schedule so interns can fulfill all requirements.
SFA’s website is unclear on the specifics of internship sites, which makes sense given the changing flexibility of preceptors. However, they do note that they work with preceptors mainly throughout East Texas, but also as far away as Houston and Dallas.
Why Should I Choose Stephen F. Austin?
The Stephen F. Austin Dietetic Internship’s mission is “to prepare competent entry-level Registered Dietitian Nutritionists to serve in traditional and emerging dietetics professions in the communities of East Texas and beyond.” Therefore, SFA may be a good fit for you if you…
- Enjoy East Texas
- Want to focus on Community Nutrition
- Are curious in learning more about holistic nutrition from faculty
- Would like the chance to work towards an M.S. in Nutrition
Resources
Interested in learning more about SFA and their dietetic internship? Here’s some websites that I sourced for information or found useful!
- Stephen F. Austin’s Dietetic Internship main page
- Want an example of an assignment that interns create? SFA has a page of example intern articles on health topics that are confusing to the general public.
- Although I didn’t get the chance to interview any students, you can still read quotes from past SFA students.
- Finally, for a very in-depth look at their internship, here’s a pdf by SFA with all the details!
