Program Experiences

DSH-Napa's Dietetic Internship is a full-time program, providing 32 hours of supervised practice each week consisting of four, eight hours days. The day off each week will vary depending on rotation, preceptor availability and department need.

Supervised practice experience is provided in food service administration, clinical dietetics, and community nutrition. Interns have the opportunity to participate in several unique learning experiences, including providing nutrition care for adults and children with mental illness.

Program affiliations contribute to expanding the knowledge and professional practice necessary to becoming a competent dietitian. Clinical affiliations include Adventist Health, Sutter Solano Medical Center, North Bay Medical Center, Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital, Sutter Sacramento Medical Center, Sutter Delta Medical Center, Sutter Roseville, Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital and DaVita Dialysis Centers. Affiliations with Napa Solano Head Start, Solano County Public Health and St. Helena Unified School District supplement the program's community nutrition curriculum.

The program experiences include:

The program schedule is August through June.
State holidays are observed throughout the program.
Vacation is typically scheduled during Christmas.
Rotations subject to change.

Classes
Interns attend new employee orientation at the hospital, where they will learn about its treatment program, security measures and patient confidentiality, among other topics. Classes that are taught by the internship preceptors and guest speakers update nutrition information and prepare interns for planned clinical experiences.

Food Service Administration
DSH - Napa provides services to approximately 1,150 patients daily using a cook-chill production system and a centralized foodservice system. Interns gain hands-on experience with menu planning, large-scale food production and service methods, purchasing, personnel, management, and cost-control techniques.

Clinical Nutrition
Experiences include nutritional assessment, development and implementation of nutrition care plans, and individual and group counseling/education. The intern interacts with other health care professionals and is an active member of the interdisciplinary health care team. Clinical practice involves patients in both long-term care and acute care medical settings. The intern gains experience in medical nutrition therapy and nutrition support. Clinical experience includes areas such as diabetes, cardiology, renal, critical care, geriatrics, malnutrition and GI disorders. Interns prepare and present an oral case study, and other projects are assigned to reinforce nutrition principles in the clinical setting.

Staff Experience
The intern will be given the opportunity to work independently and use the skills and knowledge gained during the clinical rotation.

Community Nutrition
Experience will relate the role of the dietitian in administering nutritional care in the community and as a resource for respective agencies and programs.

Electives
Time is set aside at the end of the program year for interns to develop a rotation in individual area(s) of interest. For this rotation, interns pick from a list of potential sites with which the program affiliates.