Dietetic Internship Program

Southern Arizona VA Healthcare System - Program Introduction

Tucson Program Introduction Program Information Program Rotations Program Mission & Goals Financial Information FAQs Life in Tucson VA Southern Arizona Healthcare System Website

Program Introduction

Thank you for your interest in the Southern Arizona VA Healthcare System Dietetic Internship Program. We are currently designated as a candidacy program with accreditation granted in 2022 from the Accreditation Council for Education and Dietetics (ACEND) of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Upon successful program completion, graduates are eligible to take the Registration Examination for Dietitians. Beginning January 1, 2024, the Commission on Dietetic Registration will require a graduate degree in order to take the exam.

We are thrilled to offer a generous stipend from the Office of Academic Affiliations while you are working as a dietetic intern!  Stipend amounts for the 2024-2025 class are $19,000 (or $15/hour), for the hours in supervised practice. Stipend pay is subject to tax withholidings and is paid bi-weekly. For the class starting in the fall of 2025, we plan to accept 4 interns.

The SAVAHCS Internship offers three tracks: 
1) Interns who have already completed a graduate degree may complete only the supervised practice portion of the program. SAVAHCS rotations provide 1,288 hours of rotations in clinical nutrition, food service management and public health.

2) Interns may concurrently complete their graduate degree at the same time as the supervised practice portion from the University of Arizona. This is a 100% online curriculum of 30 credit hours over the course of 4 semesters (summer, fall, spring, summer).. The degree granted is a Professional Science Masters (PSM) in Applied Nutrition – Health and Wellness Emphasis. For more details, check the UofAz Program. Interns complete the supervised practice rotations at SAVAHCS concurrently with the graduate school courses from Arizona. SAVAHCS rotations provide 1,288 hours of rotations in clinical nutrition, food service management and public health. 

3) Interns may concurrently complete a graduate degree at the same time as their supervised practice from the University of Alabama.  This is a 100% online curriculum of 30 credit hours over the course of 4 semesters (summer, fall, spring, summer).  The degree granted is a Master of Science (MS) in Human Nutrition. For more details, check the UA Online website. Interns complete the supervised practice rotations at SAVAHCS concurrently with the graduate school courses from Arizona. SAVAHCS rotations provide 1,288 hours of rotations in clinical nutrition, food service management and public health. 

SAVAHCS opened its doors in 1928 as Veteran’s Hospital #51, later evolving into the Tucson VA Medical Center. Today, SAVAHCS includes a wide variety of services for Veterans as a teaching facility with 295 authorized inpatient beds (critical, acute and rehab levels of care), and outpatient care for over 171,000 Veterans in eight counties. SAVAHCS employs over 2,900 staff and has over 67 academic affiliations training multiple health care disciplines. Annually SAVAHCS treats over 8,700 inpatients, performs over 5,100 surgeries, and completes over 730,000 outpatient appointments. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual care options have increased over 800%. The main hospital includes critical care, acute care, inpatient psychiatry, a community living center housing rehab, palliative and hospice care, the Southwest Blind Rehabilitation Center, and an extended mental health rehabilitation residential program. Outpatient care includes primary and specialty care clinics, hemodialysis, home based primary care (HBPC), a Health Promotion Disease Prevention (HPDP) program, mental health, and the MOVE! weight management program.

Please read through our entire webpage to learn more about our program. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at Jennifer.Bowers@va.gov.

If you are local, please reach out for a facility tour or join our in-person Open House on Nov 15, 2024 at noon.  Please RSVP at least a week in advance to Jennifer.Bowers@va.gov

Jennifer M Bowers, PhD, RD, EBP-C

Dietetic Internship Director

Southern Arizona VA Healthcare System

3601 South Sixth Avenue

Tucson, AZ   85721

520.792.1450  x16974

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