Dietetic Internship Program

Admission Policies

Cal Poly Pomona's Dietetic Internship Program (DI) is for applicants who have a DPD verification statement and master's degree or will complete a master's degree within three months of completing supervised practice. Students enrolled in the online master's degree in dietetics program offered by the College of Professional and Global Education may only be accepted in the DI program by a separate university approval process.

CRITERIA

Successful applicants will have a minimum of:

  • a master’s degree, or are expected to complete their master’s program within 3 months of completing supervised practice
  • a verification statement from an accredited program in dietetics
  • a 3.0 overall grade point average and 3.0 in professional courses

Recency of Education

Applicants who have completed academic requirements more than five years before applying to the internship will need to document recency of education or experience on the Recency of Education Form (PDF) that is available on this website. This may be a combination of at least two years of dietetic-related work experience within the last five years and/or nine upper-division college or graduate-level courses in areas related to the dietetic profession.

Prior Experience

While we highly value work or volunteer experience in dietetics in our applicants, our internship does not waive practice hours for prior experience. Refer to the Policy to Waiver Hours for Prior Learning. After reviewing the policy, contact the program director for questions.

INTERVIEWS

Selected applicants will be contacted in early February to schedule an interview. Please be sure to include in your DICAS application an email address and a phone number where you can be reached during that time.

Interviews will be conducted on two days only at the end of February by a committee consisting of Cal Poly Pomona faculty, preceptors from participating hospitals, alumni, and interns.

The interview is a mandatory part of the selection process. We appreciate the opportunity to get to know the applicants to the program.  Please be willing to be flexible to attend the interview.  Interviews may be in person or via Zoom, at the DI Director's discretion.

All applicants will be given fair consideration; however, some preference (10 out of 100 points) will be given to those students who have completed a minimum of 30 units at Cal Poly Pomona in the initial application review.  

Up to fifteen full-time interns are accepted annually.

Interns who are matched to the program must apply to the university and will receive further information on university application procedures after acceptance. Interns are admitted into a post-baccalaureate certificate program.  This category will still allow interns to apply for financial aid.

Materials of unsuccessful candidates will not be returned to the candidate