Dietetic Internship Program

How to Apply

The application portal will open in early August for the 2024-2025 cycle.

Application Requirements

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply to the Dietetic Internship Program, applicants must hold at least an undergraduate or graduate degree from a regionally accredited U.S. college or university or from an institution of higher education abroad which is recognized by the Ministry of Education in the home country. Additionally, the applicant must have completed the requisite courses from an ACEND-approved Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD), and have a verification statement of completion from their DPD Director.

Application Procedure

Simmons University will be participating in the Dietetic Internship Centralized Application Service (DICAS) online application process. Applicants must submit the completed application and materials by the deadline.

An applicant will be considered for review if the following requirements are submitted to DICAS and completed by the deadline:

1. Complete application
2. Personal statement
3. Current resume
4. Three letters of recommendation
5. Official college transcripts from all institutions attended, whether or not a degree was earned
6. Verification of Completion of the Didactic Program in Dietetics approved by ACEND
7. Supplemental video uploaded with the application materials
8. If applicable, additional requirements for international students

On the DICAS application page, you will choose between two options for the internship:

1. Stand-alone (non-degree) Dietetic Internship (35 weeks) with a community focus
2. Combined MSDI. This option includes the Master of Science in Nutrition, which may take 1-2 years to complete, and 35 weeks of supervised practice for the internship in the second year.

Additionally, we offer an online Certificate in Sports Nutrition (CSN), which consists of four courses. This can be done in conjunction with either the stand-alone internship or with the Master's degree. 

COVID-19 vaccination and supervised practice

Simmons University currently requires Simmons students to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Please note that Simmons does allow both medical and religious exemptions from this vaccine requirement. However, Simmons does not control how our clinical health partners handle vaccine requirements.

The Dietetic Internship (DI) curriculum requires at least 1000 hours of supervised practice with about a third of those in acute care and long-term care facilities. Clinical experiences are required of all DI students for the successful completion of the program, in compliance with the standards of the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND). While we use reasonable, good faith efforts to secure clinical assignments for all students, we may not be able to find clinical sites for students who are not fully vaccinated. Some clinical sites do allow COVID-19 vaccine medical and religious exemption requests, but there is no guarantee that an exemption will be granted. Such decisions are solely within the purview of the clinical sites. Thus, any student who is not fully vaccinated runs the risk of being unable to complete clinical hours required for their Simmons degree as well as their ACEND DI Verification Statement.

Pre-Select Options (only for students earning a DPD verification statement at Simmons University)

1. MSDI

The MSDI track of the Simmons dietetic internship has a pre-select option for students in the Simmons BS/DPD or DPD Certificate programs who will have earned a DPD certificate by the start of the MSDI program. Students are eligible to apply to the MSDI preselect as long as they have not previously completed the Simmons Master's program. They will need to complete the Simmons DPD program and receive their verification statement by the start of the MSDI program in September.

Students accepted through the pre-select program will be enrolled in the Simmons MSDI program (combined Simmons MS in Nutrition and Health Promotion + Simmons Dietetic Internship). Once all of the academic and internship requirements are met, the student will graduate with their MS in Nutrition and be eligible to take the RD exam.

The Simmons MSDI is accredited for 24 students. Annually, the program accepts up to 15 new students with up to 6 students accepted through the pre-select option and at least 9 spots filled through the internship admissions process.

2. Stand-alone DI

The stand-alone track of the Simmons dietetic internship has a pre-select option for students earning their DPD verification at Simmons who already hold a master's degree from Simmons or another institution. Students who will have earned their master's degree prior to the start of the dietetic internship in September are also eligible.

If you have an incomplete master's degree from another institution, you are not eligible for this program. If you have an incomplete master's degree from Simmons, you may be eligible for the MSDI program.

If accepted in this program, the student's master's degree and DPD certificate MUST be completed before the start of supervised practice rotations in September.

The Simmons stand-alone track is accredited for 12 students. Annually, the program accepts up to 8 new students.

The stand-alone program will accept up to 3 students through the pre-select process.

How to Apply:

The Simmons Admissions Department will disseminate the internal Simmons application link when it is available mid-December.

Early application to the MSDI program for a fall 2025 start, deadline to apply through DICAS is October 8, 2024 with a decision date no later than November 1, 2024.

Regular decision application to both the MSDI and the stand alone DI for a fall 2025 start. deadline to apply through DICAS is January 15, 2025 with a decision date no later than March 1, 2025.

Simmons internal applicant preselect for both the MSDI and the stand alone DI for a fall 2025 start, deadline to apply through the Simmons admissions portal is January 9, 2025 with a decision by January 28, 2025, information and the application link will be provided through the Simmons DPD Program Director, Teresa Fung.

Academic Records: Transcripts

Official transcripts are required for all courses completed (undergraduate and graduate) at regionally accredited U.S.post-secondary institutions, whether or not a degree was awarded or regardless of when the courses were taken or if the courses are specific to the program to which you are applying. All official transcripts will be sent to DICAS. This requirement includes courses which appear on another transcript as transfer or study abroad credit. If you attended a study abroad program and a separate transcript exists, send that as well. 

Foreign transcripts are the only transcripts that will need to be mailed to the Office of Admission during the application process. If you earned a degree abroad, academic records must include end of year marks sheets for each year of attendance, not just final exam results or a copy of the degree. Educational documents should clearly indicate the degree and date awarded. Overseas post-secondary institutions must be recognized by the Ministry of Education in the home country. Academic records in the native language and an official English translation (if needed) are required. English translations must be provided by someone other than the applicant, family member or friend. It may also be necessary for the applicant to submit an interpretation by a foreign credential services agency. Interpretations of foreign credentials by an evaluation service do not replace official academic records. These evaluations are assessments of the curriculum and are not accepted in lieu of official academic documents. Our preferred provider is WES.  Evaluations should include English translations and U.S. equivalencies of all transcripts including a course-by-course evaluation with grades. Contact our office at 617-521-2605 to determine if this is needed. When you call, please be prepared to provide the name of the institution and country where the degree was earned.

Recommendations

Three recommendations are required, two recommendations should be from current or recent instructors. Recommendations should be no more than six months old and should not be Committee Recommendations (one letter which includes a series of paragraphs from individual faculty members or a series of faculty letters) or letters of reference on file in a Career Education or Career Resources Center. Further instructions for the recommendation process can be found within the DICAS application.

Supplemental Video/Essay

Applicants are asked to create a video with responses to the questions below. If you choose to do the video, it should be no longer than 5 minutes and should address all 4 questions.
If you do not feel comfortable with this, you have the option to answer the questions in an essay of no more than 1,000 words instead, although video is preferred.

You should upload your video to YouTube, but remember to make the link unlisted. Please include this link at the bottom of your required personal essay.

Please remember to state your name and school at the beginning of the video so we can easily identify you. You should answer the questions below as honestly as you can, and please do not repeat information you have already included in your application.

Questions:

1. Why is the Simmons internship a good fit for you? Which factors about our program and/or our location have you considered?
2. Tell us about a time when you struggled to learn a new skill or with a difficult concept in a class. How did you go about addressing your difficulty?
3. Describe a time when you took the initiative to go above and beyond expectations. What was the situation, the actions you took, and the result?
4. What are three adjectives that you think others would use to describe you? Give some examples of why they might describe you that way.

Standardized Tests

The GRE is not required for any of our graduate nutrition programs at Simmons University.

Applicants whose first language is not English must submit official English language test scores taken within two years prior to the application deadline. These include the TOEFL, Duolingo English Test, Pearson Test of English and IELTS. Other English proficiency exams can be considered on a case by case basis. This requirement is based on native language, not citizenship.

This requirement is waived for applicants who have graduated at the bachelor's or master's level from a regionally accredited U.S. institution or a post -secondary institution abroad that is recognized by the Ministry of Education in the host country in English-speaking countries only.

Official scores are required; copies of student score reports are not acceptable. The TOEFL code is 3761. We are unable to accept electronic scores. It takes 5-6 weeks for the office to receive scores from ETS. A minimum score of 570 (paper-based), 230 (computer-based,) or 88 (internet-based) is required. Further information about TOEFL can be obtained by contacting Educational Testing Service (ETS) by telephone at 609-771-7670 or by visiting the ETS website.

Information about the Duolingo English Test can be found by visiting the Duolingo website.