Contents
Cal Poly Pomona

Program Description

The nine-month Dietetic Internship is concurrent with the academic calendar, beginning mid-September. The program consists of a total of 1088 practice and approximately 140 didactic hours. These hours are distributed as follows:

  • a minimum of 32 hours of supervised practice each week
  • Monday classes, approximately six hours weekly
 

The program is classified as general, with approximately equal time in management, clinical rotations and community settings. Interns are assigned to one hospital site, at the discretion of the Selection Committee, where they complete both management and clinical rotations.

 

SUPERVISED PRACTICE

Clinical services rotations in general medical/surgical, diabetes, cardiac care, TPN, clinical management and clinical staff relief are completed at the assigned hospital. A pediatric rotation may be completed at another hospital.

Foodservice rotations at the assigned hospital include storeroom, production, tray line, cafeteria, safety and sanitation. Production management, administration and foodservice staff relief provide management experience.

Interns rotate through school foodservice, Public Health,WIC, Renal, Extended Care, Headstart, Community Colleges and various community agencies to complete the community rotations.

 

CURRENT HOSPITALS

Current hospital facilities participating in the Dietetic Internship include:

Citrus Valley Health Partners
       Intercommunity Hospital, Covina
       Queen of the Valley Hospital, West Covina
City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte
Community Hospital, San Bernardino
Garden Grove Hospital, Garden Grove
          Harbor/UCLA Medical Center, Torrance
Kern County Hospital, Bakersfield
Methodist Hospital, Arcadia
Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center, Mission Viejo
Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, Pomona
St. Bernadines, San Bernardino
San Antonio Community Hospital, Upland
St. Jude Hospital, Fullerton
USC University Hospital, Los Angeles

Hospitals are located from ten to 130 miles from the Cal Poly Pomona campus. The use of a car is mandatory in order to travel to assigned rotations. The Intern assigned to Bakersfield (130 miles from Cal Poly) will complete the majority of rotations in Bakersfield, but are expected to commute to Los Angeles for Monday classes. In addition, some rotations, Public Health, School Foodservice, Community College, and Headstart, will be completed in Los Angeles.

Interns are responsible for their own living arrangements, both in Los Angeles and Bakersfield.

 

CLASSES

In addition to supervised practice hours, interns are required to attend Monday classes at a variety of sites in the Greater Los Angeles area. These hours are in addition to the 1088 practice hours in the assigned rotations. Topics covered may include but are not limited to HIV/AIDS, laboratory values, counseling, nutritional assessment, drug/nutrient interaction, sports nutrition, personnel issues, labor unions, conflict resolution, state and federal legislation, marketing, communication skills, feeding disabilities, American Dietetic Association/California Dietetic Association structure and activities, and introduction to community agencies.

 

PROGRAM COMPLETION

All interns who complete the Dietetic Internship with evaluations of at- or above-entry level will receive a Verification Statement. Receipt of this Statement will allow the graduate to apply to write the examination to become a registered dietitian.