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About Rotations

ALL ROTATION SITES REQUIRE APPROVAL OF THE INTERNSHIP.

This approval will occur after Overview Rotation Schedules have been submitted and Preceptor Information forms have been received. ELECTIVE SITES will be approved after the start of the Internship. We are unable to approve individual proposed sites until after an Intern has been matched to our Program. The information below provides extensive details about what can be approved and what cannot be approved. You will need to gather information about what the site offers and compare it to the information on the "About Preceptors" and "About Rotations" tabs.

Please note that all Internships have different curriculums which are based on the same set of competencies. As such, a rotation site which may be appropriate for one Internship's curriculum may not be appropriate for Priority Nutrition Care's curriculum. 

One site is allowed for each rotation.  The Community, Clinical and Food Service Rotations are 24 days each in length.  Splitting the time between sites in one rotation would require the Preceptor to devote too much time preparing for the Intern's visit, causing the Intern to lose valuable time orienting to their surroundings and Preceptor, decreasing actual practice time, and increase the possibility of contracts/affiliation agreements between the Internship and rotation sites too cumbersome for both the Internship and the hosting facility to ensure completion of the agreement.

Priority Nutrition Care LLC Dietetic Interns are not paid. The United States Department of Labor has published guidance in the form of a 7-factor test to help employers properly classify interns: Fact Sheet #71: Internship Programs Under The Fair Labor Standards Act.

YOU MAY NOT BE EMPLOYED BY THE FACILITY THROUGH WHICH YOU ARE ROTATING AT THE TIME YOU ARE AT THAT SITE AS AN INTERN. THIS IS FOR MANY REASONS, THE MOST IMPORTANT OF WHICH ARE LEGAL.

Rotations may be completed in any order.

PAL credit must be applied at the end of the internship.

PREREQUISITES FOR CLINICAL, FOOD SERVICE AND COMMUNITY ROTATIONS

Completion of Internship Orientation

PREREQUISITE FOR ELECTIVE ROTATION

Completion of CLINICAL, FOODSERVICE AND COMMUNITY ROTATIONS or PAL CREDIT

SUPERVISED PRACTICE HOURS 

FULL TIME:

Four 8 hour days per week. Monday through Thursday. Lunch & breaks do not count toward the 8 hours

Eight hours per week (on Fridays) working from home office. (Total 5 days per week.)

PART TIME: Two 8 hour days per week. Monday through Thursday. Lunch & breaks do not count toward the 8 hours.

Eight hours per week (on Fridays) working from home office  (Total 3 days per week.)

SITES

Any site utilizing a remote access/hybrid work will not be approved.  In other words, you may not work from home.  It is imperative that interns have access to full experiences and learning opportunities, which is not possible to guarantee when the practice site is utilizing a remote work/hybrid format. 

You may work with a Preceptor who works with clients from their office, as long as you are at the same place as the Preceptor and the site meets all federal, state and local standards and requirements and the Precetor is approved and trained to operate secure clinics and provide education remotely.

CLINICAL : This rotation may be completed at one site, such as inpatient or outpatient facilities, hospitals, nursing homes, extended care or long term care facilities with onsite acute medical or surgical rehabilitation units, rehabilitation facilities (excluding substance abuse programs) or health centers which deliver MNT and utilize the Nutrition Care Process and renal dialysis units. Private Practices cannot be approved due to the variation in the volume of client/patient contacts and potential liability, privacy and insurance issues. 

COMMUNITY : This rotation may be completed at one site in the community which may include, but is not limited to, outpatient facilities, health centers, community nutrition services that may be found in departments of public health, hospital and clinic outreach programs, social service agencies, community centers, or government-funded public health programs outpatient dialysis units, public school systems, and sites that have programs for school-aged children such as Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCA which have a full time nutrition component.  The setting must be a fixed location that provides ongoing services in order to provide interns with adequate experiences.  Government-funded health programs such as WIC, Head Start, Cooperative Extension, Expanded Food and Nutrition Program (EFNEP), or SNAP-ED. 

FOOD SERVICE : The Food Service Rotation focuses on aspects of producing and delivering nutrition and food, including procurement, storage, preparation, delivery and customer service. Interns complete activities involving sanitation audits, HACCP Guidelines, menu planning, customer service, and management activities.  The activities in  this rotation include practical hands-on practice to prepare for entry- level management responsibilities.  This rotation may be spent at one site and requires a facility or facilities with a retail/institutional cafeteria or food service operation whose activities include procurement through delivery and service functions. These kinds of settings can usually be found in hospitals, food service companies, long-term care, or residential facilities, colleges and universities and public school systems.

ELECTIVE : In this rotation the Intern may choose to return to a previous site for more in depth experience or the Intern may arrange a new site with approval from the Program Director, which approval will be given after the second rotation. 

The following sites and Preceptors may not be used for any Rotation. 

Private Practices (RDNs) *

Gym/Personal Training businesses 

Psychiatric Programs including Eating Disorder Programs*

Substance Abuse Programs

Sites which run their own Dietetic Internships

Remote sites - You may not work from home.

* Must meet specific requirements.


The Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND®) is the accrediting agency for education programs preparing students for careers as Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) or Nutrition and Dietetics Technicians, Registered. (NDTRs) Priority Nutrition Care's Distance Dietetics Internship Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 120 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 2190, Chicago, IL 60606-6995, (312) 899-0040 ext. 5400. https://www.eatrightpro.org/acend