The Winter edition of the ADA Times arrived in my mailbox last week. The cover was eye-catching and cheerful, featuring pictures of dietetic students, just like us, from around the country.
Cool, I thought. It’s all about students. I can relate to that!
Here’s the headline: Creating our Competition (Ok, I can dig that…)
Why the Dietetics Internship Shortage is as Important To Your Future as It Is to the Practioners of Tomorrow (Record screeching)
Um, what? Internship shortage? Nobody said anything about a national Internship shortage!
It’s no secret that the hot topic discussed amongst dietetic students in my program is whether or not we’ll get a coveted internship spot. A healthy mix of anxiety, excitement, and extreme fear tends to permeate the Nutrition department, especially during application seasons.
According to the feature article I’m referring to in the ADA Times:
In April 2009, 50% percent of total dietetic applicants were matched to an internship. In the most recent November 2009 match, 573 students competed for 196 available internships—a shortage of 66 percent.
I’m sorry, but that’s depressing. Even though I’m about a year and a half away from applying to an internship position, I definitely feel the pressure: to get As in my classes (Damn you chemistry!), volunteer for as much as I can fit into my schedule, and be the “perfect student.” That’s a lot of pressure. Hey, I like a dose of healthy competition just like everyone else (it IS Olympic season, after all), but this seems a bit ridiculous. We work our fannies off in our DPD programs only to try one, two, three times to get an internship, and even then, it’s not guaranteed.
How does this make you feel? Thoughts?
I think so many people felt this way when the ADA Times arrived this month. I got so anxious just reading the article even though, like you, I'm a year away from applying.
ReplyDeleteI'm on my third computer matching process now. The internship shortage was never mentioned until after match day my first time around...4 days before graduation. I started a MPA program that will let me defer when (or if) I get an internship. It's a serious problem and I feel like I should have known about it beforehand. I have good feelings about this round, but who knows?
ReplyDeleteI wrote the sidebars for that article (published under my old last name), and I have to admit, I was basically in a cold sweat for a week after first speaking with the students I interviewed. I definitely don't remember being told about any internship shortage when I applied to my program, and I've been hearing the same thing from other students.
ReplyDeleteI feel like administrators should alert prospective students to the possibility of not being matched, especially considering the time and money invested. I'm curious to see whether any positive growth occurs in terms of more internship possibilities in the next few years.
What if All Access Internships sponsored a distance dietetic internship? Maybe we could help with the shortage:) It's definitely a possibility!
ReplyDeleteI think knowing about the shortage (or even the internship requirement itself!) is key and it can weed out those not interested or those that may not feel academically qualified. If you think about med school, they run the same risk of not getting accepted. All these DI programs get filled, so even if students knew and prepared themselves better, it is still fully saturated!
--Jenny
I have heard of undergraduate programs actually capping their enrollment or making more stringent requirements in order to pursue a major in dietetics. Anyone else think this may be just a band-aid?
ReplyDeleteMy undergraduate university had a capped enrollment for our dietetics program and half of those who applied for internships in that limited-enrollment program still didn't get matched! Many people did end up getting on the second round though. I still think limited undergraduate enrollment would be a good option to adopt at other universities. It helps some of the problem. The real problem though is the lack of internships. plain and simple.
ReplyDeleteThese statistics have been the same for years and years and years. You can be perfect in every way but the matching system makes it a crap shoot.
ReplyDeleteI am a clinical coordinator of an MS/RD internship program BUT every year I try to pound into the head of the undergrads how HARD it is to get an internship. Most don't listen.