Student Success Courses
Enhance your student experience! These courses will provide you with tools and experiences that will help you achieve your goals in the fields of nutritional sciences and wellness!
Student Success Courses in the School of Nutritional Sciences and Wellness are designed to help students explore careers, develop important skills that will make them attractive to employers, and prepare for next steps to give them a head start after graduation.
Dietetics Success Course - Earning the RDN Credential
The purpose of this course is to provide students with the knowledge, tools and competencies to investigate accredited supervised practice pathways in dietetics, including graduate school and other pathways. Course topics include types of programs, the process of earning the RDN credential, common program eligibility and application requirements, the DICAS common application and match process, best practices to communicate about personal strengths and assets and what to expect if accepted into a program and alternative options if not accepted into a program.
In this course, you will evaluate different program options; investigate, compare and contrast programs of interest; create detailed action plans and timelines to meet eligibility criteria and specific application requirements; review the DICAS application requirements; prepare answers to the DICAS Personal statement prompts; prepare to communicate with program directors, coordinators, faculty and professionals during the internship preparation process and beyond.
NOTE: This experience is equivalent to a 1-unit course; expect to participate in class and class-related work for 3 hours / week. Students can choose to enroll in this course for credit and a grade, which will appear on your transcript, OR you can enroll and participate in the experience for no credit and no grade.
ENROLLMENT DEADLINE: You must request to be enrolled in this course by or before the first day of class.
TIME COMMITMENT: 3 hours per week
In this fully online, asynchronous course, you will complete several types of activities to achieve the following outcomes by the end of the semester:
- Differentiate between the types of internships available (Distance, Combined Programs, FEM).
- Identify specific Supervised Practice Programs in Dietetics that are feasible and desirable to pursue, based on personal criteria (such as cost, location, length, or others established by the students).
- Self-assess competitiveness for Supervised Practice Programs in Dietetics based on eligibility requirements and Supervised Practice Program applicant scoring tools.
- Formulate an itemized action plan to meet program eligibility requirements in advance of applications, including individuals to approach for letters of recommendation.
- Develop a mentoring relationship with an academic advisor, faculty member, and/or dietetics professional to provide guidance on the dietetic internship exploration and planning process.
Prerequisite:
NSC 396-A: Survey of Careers in Nutrition
We recommend that Dietetics students take this course within 3-4 terms before graduation.
- Gain in-depth knowledge of the process of becoming a Registered Dietitian, as well as the pathways to get there.
- Analyze and compare multiple Supervised Practice Programs in dietetics to determine which programs are desirable and feasible for you.
- Prepare a detailed action planning portfolio to increase your preparedness to move forward as an informed and competitive applicant for dietetics programs.
Jessica Zepeda, RDN
Academic Advisor
jessicazepeda@arizona.edu (link sends email)