The perk of doing graduate work while completing the internship was evident. I felt like we were ahead of other students that were simply doing the internship.

There is a variety of patients that live in Memphis. You get a lot of experience with chronic disease since the quality of nutrition is poor. Patients you see here vary from uneducated to educated, rich to poor, and apathetic to interested.

Children, Adolescents, Elderly, Adults

Children, Adolescents, Pregnant Women, Elderly, Adults

Children, Adolescents, Elderly, Adults

Children, Adolescents, Pregnant Women, Elderly, Adults

Children, Adolescents, Pregnant Women, Elderly, Adults

Children, Adolescents, Pregnant Women, Elderly, Adults

Children, Adolescents, Pregnant Women, Elderly, Adults

Children, Adolescents, Pregnant Women, Elderly, Adults

Children, Adolescents, Pregnant Women, Elderly, Adults

Children, Adolescents, Pregnant Women, Elderly, Adults

Children, Adolescents, Pregnant Women, Elderly, Adults

Children, Adolescents, Pregnant Women, Elderly, Adults

Children, Adolescents, Pregnant Women, Elderly, Adults

Children, Adolescents, Pregnant Women, Elderly

The first two semesters were great as the graduate assistant position paid for school and gave a pretty good stipend. I also had to take out loans from the school. Apply for loans early as they take awhile to process.

Loans, Employment, Graduate Assistantship with pay, tuition reimbursement

Loans, Employment

Loans, Parents' help

Loans

Savings, Loans, Employment

Savings, Scholarships, Parents' help

Savings, Loans

Loans, Scholarships, GA- Graduate Assistantship

Savings, Scholarships

Loans, Scholarships, Employment

Loans

Loans, Scholarships

Loans, Scholarships, Parents' help, Employment

Loans, Parents' help, Employment

Try to get some experience in different areas of dietetics before you apply. If you have even a small amount of experience you will have a better idea of what areas you want to go into.

It is beneficial for applicants to attend the Clinical Nutrition open-house in January or to at least visit the university prior to applying. The personal statement included in the application is very important, and it is imperative that the statement express the applicant's interest in the program (find out specifics about the program before writing this section), highlight nutrition-related experiences, and flow nicely with minimal-to-no errors.

Let them know you are a hard worker!!!

Get help with the letter of application and put a lot of thought into it. Get work experience during undergrad.

Make sure that you want a Master's Degree. There is a lot of work regarding your thesis or graduate project and if you don't care to have a Master's Degree, then there is no use in going through this program.

Experience is important, however, I think that a personal statement is also very important. It is your one chance to give the committee that reads your application a feel for what you want to contribute to the dietetic community.

1) Make sure your personal letter is PERFECT. No typos. Ask someone else, preferably an english teacher, to proof read. If you have any skeletons in the closet (i.e. low GPA, low GRE) make sure you address it in your letter and explain what happened. 2) It's all about the GRE! It's a lot of geometry and English. The U of M won't even look at an application with a GRE score of less than 800. Take the exam at least 3 weeks before sending in your application to assure the results arrive in time. Many people retake the GRE and their score goes down. This is common; just a warning. 3) List every single volunteer experience you have had. 4) When asking for letters of recommendation, ask the person to write you a letter IF they can say positive things; not negative. The letters of recommendations are not valued as highly as the personal letter and GRE, however. Have resume ready to give the person that is writing your recommendation.

It helps to be well rounded and open!

1- Research- learn about the program and if possible visit and meet potential professors. KNOW this program, the area! 2- Be goal oriented- Know your goals (trust me they will change)- but go into the interview with goals in mind and be ready to effectively express your goals. 3- Be well rounded (as far as requirements go) : if your grades are good, that's fine, focus on experience or volunteer work. Know what the program looks at and get a little bit in every area. Don't put all eggs in the "GPA" basket, it may be a selling point, but in my experience and lower GPA because you were gaining valuable field experience or volunteering is better.

I would recommend setting up a time to visit, so you can see for yourself what you like or don't like. I recommend asking to converse with past or current interns. Also, understand that this internship is pretty competitive and multiple undergraduates apply each year, so you want to be well-rounded.

I did not interview for the program. In my personal statement I illustrated my ability to work very hard and dedication to the field of dietetics and interests. Apply only if you plan to work very hard as it can be intense have both studying to do for classes and prep work and assignments for the internship rotations.

Be yourself!

Grades are important, but it is equally important to take challenging classes as an undergrad. Getting an "A" in tennis means a lot less to a selection committee than getting a "C" in Calculus 2. Also, get involved in campus activities as an undergrad. Or get a part-time job. This lets the selection committee know that you are prepared to balance an internship with graduate classes.

Be as prepared and organized in the application process as you can. Do not be afraid, the professors are all very nice and they really do want you to succeed.

1) Speak, dress, and present yourself professionally - this including researching the organization and preparing statements about yourself before the interview. 2) Put a lot of time into your applications and make sure they are as good as you can get them. 3) Investigate all of your options thoroughly before making any decisions!

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Memphis is a large medical community with ample opportunities for clinical rotations as well as career placement following completion of the program. Also, it is very affordable (graduate assistantship with pay + tuition reimbursement), and it takes only 17 months to obtain a Masters degree and complete the dietetic internship.

This program seemed to offer a more scientific approach to nutrition. It also provided a wide range of classes to teach all aspects of the nutrition field.

Location, in-state tuition. Internship plus Master's program.

Location, Master's program, all of the different experiences at the various medical centers, clinically based program

I chose this program for the fact that it was a good financial choice for a masters program combined with dietetic internship. Also, it was a good size program- 8 positions- not too big nor too small. It also has a clinical emphasis, which is what I desired.

This program is awesome because in 16 months you earn a master's degree and complete the internship. The pass rate of the RD exam after graduation is 100%. Also, 100% interns get jobs right after graduation. The internship gives you experience in so many different areas including management, renal, general hospital, developmental disabilities, diabetes, pediatrics, nutrition support, long term care, newborn center, and community nutrition. Plus, you choose a place to do a residency and staff relief. At the end of the program, you go through a 3 day study course for the RD exam.

It was a combined Graduate and internship program that also provided a paid Graduate assistanship for 2 semesters. Also, everyone there was very nice, welcoming, and helpful! Like I said before, I loved it!

I was an undergrad at this university, so I was able to meet the professors and research the program with ease. I met with the professors and discussed requirements and their curriculum. This program met all expectations regarding curriculum and access to a variety of on site experience. But above all, this program and the professors involved in the program are totally and completely invested in their students, starting with pre admission through job placement and beyond!

For me, it was in my hometown. But it also had a great reputation and you could complete your internship and your Masters degree in 16 months.

I chose to apply for this program because it also offered a 2 Master's degree program that coincided with the internship. I figured if I needed an additional internship I may as well go for my Master's at the same time. Also, many of the internship only programs seemed to only offer very small stipends (ie, parking, meals) for the 9 months/year and I wouldn't have been able to afford to live somewhere without getting paid. The Master's/Internship allowed me to get payed as a Graduate Assistant while getting student loans to live off of as well. The location of the program also wasn't too far from my family in Missouri.

It was a 2 year program, and you complete your masters by graduation date. (now it is a 1.5 year program)

1. Offered internship and graduate degree in one program. 2. Offered outstanding rotations in pediatrics.

It has an excellant track record. This program combined the internship with a masters degree, something that I was really looking for in a program. Because this program is based in Memphis, TN there were many different rotation options available; I wanted a program that could offer a multitude of rotation positions. This program was the right size for me, there were 8 in my class. It was nice to become a tight group that could help each other and provide support.

It combined the internship, master's degree and thesis writing into a 16 month program.

It was a great benefit! I felt like there was a lot of work balancing classes with internship, but the University of Memphis balances it out so that it is beneficial. Starting as a graduate assistant at a nutrition facility while diving deeper into nutrition content started the internship off right.

It worked very well to combine the masters/internship

Yes

I liked a "quick" 6 month internship as I already had quite a bit of clinical experience. It was an easy transition into the clinical rotations.

I loved the stress & fast paced enviornment.

I am so glad I chose a combined program! If I had done an internship first, I probably would have never gone back to get my master's degree. It was an overwhelming and busy time in my life, but well worth it.

I very much enjoyed the combination and recommend it to all prospective interns.

The program was short so the workload was heavy. If you want a lighter workload a longer program may suit you better. We learned a lot in a short amount of time, but the work was beneficial.

Interns attend classes (~13 hours/week) during the first 2 semesters of the program; various projects were required for classes. I also completed an in-depth case study and a nutrition support protocol for rotations.

A thesis is required, which takes the most amount of time. Also there are "diet" projects which you go on the diets you prescribe for a week. There are also a few very large papers to write.

Thesis Case studies

You spend a large majority of your outside time on your thesis or graduate project.

During the actual internship rotations, we had very few projects except simple assignments from preceptors. We were also finishing our thesis during rotations.

Preparing a protein bar taste test display for dialysis patients Reading nutrition support journal articles for journal club

Graduate Assistantship.

Posters for clinics, taught classes that needed prior prep, case studies, questions pertinent for a particular rotation to be done prior to first day of that rotation.

lectures/talks, conferences/seminars, local dietetics meetings

We were required to do a thesis and at the end of the 2nd year present the results to the Thesis Review Board. (program no longer requires a thesis to be completed, optional now)

my thesis took most of my time. we had projects due every week.

This isn'te really an Outside Project, exactly, but we had to do a thesis. It took a lot of time, sweat, and tears, but I'm glad I did it.

Following various therapeutic diets (diabetic, renal, gluten free) and keeping a food journal/notebook about the experience.

Lots of hours on thesis, of course. Class assignments included papers, presentations, readings, worksheets, etc.

Memphis is a great place for rotations as there are several medical practices, hospitals, nutrition offices, etc. There are many conferences and workshops located here as the UT medical school is also located in Memphis.

I lived in East Memphis. East Memphis is close to the campus and I felt safe living there on my own. I looked at apartments and visited in person. I also received tips from people who had lived in Memphis for awhile.

Harbor Town, South Bluffs, High Point Terrace, East Memphis

Mud Island of South Main

(Memphis,TN) A rather crime-wrought city. The suburbs of Germantown, Collierville, and the surrounding area is good. To live in the city more, I would suggest Mud Island (downtown), Cooper Young/Central Gardens (midtown) or certain parts of East Memphis.

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