VA St. Louis Health Care System
Application Information
The VA St. Louis Dietetic Internship Program participates in the Spring DICAS application cycle. We begin accepting applications on August 5, 2024. All applications must be completed and submitted through DICAS by January 15, 2025 at 11:59 PM CST.
Application process
· Create an account on the Dietetics Inclusive Centralized Application Service (DICAS) at DICAS | Applicant Login Page Section (liaisoncas.com).
· Select your preferred track, either the VA St. Louis Health Care System DI- Dietetic Internship (internship only) or the MS-DI Dietetic Internship and Master’s. Please note if you will not possess a graduate degree by the start of the internship program you will need to apply to the MS-DI track.
· Complete the DICAS application, remembering to include and upload the following:
o Personal information
o Resume
o Academic history and transcripts
o DPD verification or Declaration of Intent
o Supporting information including achievements, experiences, memberships, licenses, and certifications
o Personal statement
o Three letters of recommendation
· Pay required fee. The DICAS application fee is $50 for the first designation and $25 for each additional designation. There is no separate application fee to apply to our dietetic internship program.
Students applying to the MS-DI program must also apply to graduate school and be accepted at the University of Alabama by February 28, 2025.
To apply to graduate school, you must do the following:
· Email Dr. Hylton (tmhylton@ches.ua.edu) to confirm that you would like to pursue your master’s degree; specify that you will be applying to the VA St. Louis Dietetic Internship Program.
· Complete an application through the University of Alabama graduate school (https://graduate.ua.edu/prospective-students/apply-now/)
o Select MS in Human Nutrition
o Do not select an emphasis, leave this blank.
o Select Fall admission term
o Include unofficial Transcripts from all Colleges/Universities attended, statement of purpose, resume, and contact information for three (3) individuals to write a letter of recommendation.
o Pay the application fee of $65.
o It is strongly recommended when applying to the University of Alabama, prospective students complete and submit a FERPA form. FERPA refers to Family Education Right and Privacy Act. By submitting this, it allows University and Internship staff to communicate regarding your progress throughout the program to assist in your success. It will also allow the University to notify the Internship Director of your acceptance to assist in internship matching.
Applicant Review
A maximum of six interns are appointed annually. A Selection Committee, which consists of the dietetic internship director and staff dietitians who serve as preceptors, will review the applications, and interview the final candidates. The Committee looks for well-rounded individuals with a solid dietetic knowledge base, awareness and understanding of our program, professional goals that match what our program has to offer, and a strong work ethic.
Applications from qualified candidates will be reviewed and scored based on GPA, work experiences, volunteer experiences, letters of recommendation and the personalized statement/letter of application. Candidates will be contacted to schedule an interview to be conducted through Microsoft Teams using the Performance-Based Interviewing method. It is highly recommended that applicants selected for an interview review the following website to learn about the Performance-Based Interview process and how to prepare for the interview. When reviewing these materials, focus on Level 1 and 2 examples. https://www.va.gov/pbi/
Requirements
· A minimum Total GPA of 3.0 is required. (This is the same at the University of Alabama)
· Letter of application/personal statement which should include the following
o No more than 1500 words describing your career goals and reasons for applying to our program.
o Elaboration on relevant work and volunteer experience, both dietetic and non-dietetic related. If the bulk of your work experience is not related to dietetics, you may wish to explain how the skills transfer to dietetics.
o Description of extracurricular activities, volunteer experiences, leadership positions, memberships, etc. and how these relate to dietetics and your ability to be successful in a dietetic internship. Do not include practicum experiences as required by your school program.
o An explanation of why you are entering the dietetics profession and interested in our program. Include responses for each of the following five (5) questions:
1. What do you see yourself doing 5 years from now as a practicing dietitian?
2. What personal or professional experiences have you had that you feel will prepare you for that job?
3. What characteristics or aspects of our program (not rotations or projects) do you feel will help you achieve your career goals? i.e. why are you applying to our program?
4. What areas of professional and personal growth would you like to enhance or work on during the internship? i.e. strengths and weaknesses. Explain where you are now and how you would like to continue to develop in these areas.
5. What rotations or projects listed on our website interest you the most and the least? Which ones do you find the most or least challenging? Please explain your answers.
· Three letters of recommendation should be submitted to DICAS. Two should be from college professors/instructors and one should be from a work or volunteer supervisor. Letters must have been written within the past 12 months.
· All applicants must be a U.S. citizen at the time of the application submission. If selected, proof of citizenship, such as a U.S. passport, birth certificate, or Certificate of Naturalization is required as part of Federal Government paperwork.
· Education
o Applicants must be able to read, write and speak English fluently and clearly.
o Applicants must complete the minimum academic requirements set forth by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND).
o The applicant must hold a bachelor's or master's degree from an accredited college or university and must have completed the requirements of an accredited Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD). A Verification Statement of Program Completion is required.
o Official transcripts indicating the date of confirmation of your degree or a Declaration of Intent to Complete a degree is required prior to the start of the internship.
o Please note that no credit will be given for previously obtained learning or work experiences prior to entering the supervised practice portion of the dietetic internship program. The University of Alabama program does accept prior learning for the graduate degree portion of the MS-DI.
Appointment procedures
- The VA St. Louis may begin extending offers of admission on applications deemed complete by the program at any time during the admission cycle.
- Applicants may receive a status of acceptance, waitlisted, or rejection at any time throughout the application cycle, but please note all applicants will be notified of their status by 9:00 AM CST on March 1, 2025. of their status no later than March 1, 2025. Applicants may receive an acceptance offer, a waitlisted status, or a rejection notification.
- Applicants offered an appointment for the to the VA St. Louis Health Care System Dietetic Internship must confirm their acceptance of offer no later than 4:00 PM CST on March 15, 2025. Acceptance of offer can be provided via email to angela.franklin@va.gov or by phone at 314-652-4100 ext. 64594. After this time, the VA St. Louis DI Program has no commitment to hold acceptance offers to applicants.
- For applicants on waitlisted status, should positions become available, they will be notified of their acceptance starting March 16, 2025 or sooner as positions become available.
- A letter will be sent to appointees confirming the dietetic internship appointment. This letter is considered tentative until the appointee has successfully completed all hiring and onboarding requirements of the VA.
Onboarding Requirements
- Appointees must be both physically and mentally able to perform the responsibilities of a dietetic intern safely and efficiently. These responsibilities include but are not limited to, navigating a fast-paced hospital environment, completing complex cognitive tasks in a timely manner, some lifting and bending, driving 30 miles or more to offsite clinics and affiliate sites, fully participate in rigorous clinical rotations, working while on your feet in a food production kitchen and various dining areas, interacting with inter-professional teams, successfully handle competing personal and professional demands, and completing projects by their due dates.
- Appointees must provide a required medical acknowledgment/checklist signed by their healthcare provider acknowledging that he or she is physically and mentally fit to perform essential functions.
- Immunization records documenting MMR, Tdap, and varicella (chicken pox) vaccinations is required, as is a COVID-19 vaccine.
- As part of the Federal Government's paperwork and appointment process, the following is required at no cost to the intern: (a) a background check; (b) TB testing; (c) Hepatitis A and/or B vaccination; and (d) random drug screening may also be done.
- A flu vaccination is also required and provided prior to flu season, at no cost to the appointee/intern. COVID-19 vaccinations are also available at no cost.
Note: Currently, an additional background check and drug testing is mandatory for admission to some affiliate community rotations. The intern will be contacted by the affiliate site and is responsible for completing the required tests. The cost is paid by the affiliate site and the results sent directly to the affiliate site. The VA St. Louis Health Care System is not involved in this process and does not receive the test results. However, if the intern is not allowed to participate in the rotation due to the test results, the intern may be dismissed from the internship program. This will be addressed on a case-by-case basis.
