Dietetics

The curriculum, along with local and international experiential learning opportunities, supports students in developing the knowledge and skills required for early selection into UD's Master of Dietetics and Nutrition and Premier Dietetic Internship program. You can complete all of the components required to sit for the RDN credentialing exam within 5.5 years of starting your freshman year at UD (vs. traditional 6-7 years). The dietetics graduate and internship success rate at UD is 100%.

• Food Lab: The ProduceOne Food & Nutrition Laboratory is a state-of-the-art facility where University of Dayton dietetics students have hands-on learning experiences with food and cooking. This space, located on the 5th floor of Fitz Hall, offers multiple opportunities for students to develop key skills for their future profession in dietetics. There are four cooking stations in the lab (3 at the back of the lab, plus one large station at the front of the lab). Stations include an oven, microwave, stand mixer, fridge, sink, cookware and food prep tools. One station is dedicated gluten-free for participants with allergies. Tables and chairs in the center of the lab offer a space for classroom instruction.
• Community and Sustainability: Interested in farm-to-table initiatives? Through a partnership with East End Community Services and UD's Hanley Sustainability Institute, Dietetics students can explore and discern their call to serve in this area. Students support a number of initiatives, including developing nutrition education at local schools, garden-to-table nutrition education curriculum for a summer camp, and cooking demos with a mobile food pantry program.
• Gem City Market Nutrition Education Programming: Students have several opportunities to provide nutrition education and demonstrate culinary skills to support community members via programming at Gem City Market. Students develop and implement nutrition education through cooking demos, providing nutrition-focused grocery tours, and providing nutrition education programming to student-athletes.
• Sport Nutrition and Wellness Program: With the supervision of the dietetics faculty (registered and licensed dietitian nutritionists), students develop skills in nutrition assessment and create nutrition education and counseling for student-athletes.
• Integrative Culinary Medicine: During their senior year, students work alongside medical residents to develop culinary skills and evidenced-based nutrition messaging for use in both a clinical and community setting.
• Interprofessional Education Collaborations: Seniors, along with students in UD's Dietetics (M.D.N.) program, participate in interprofessional education simulations twice a year. At these IPE events, students studying nursing, dietetics, pharmacy, medicine, social work, counseling, and physical therapy at local colleges and universities collaborate to solve simulated patient cases.
• Study Abroad: Summer study abroad programs in locations such as Chile, Italy, Greece, Portugal and Spain offer opportunities to explore the food and diet of other cultures through the lens of a dietitian.

Network with Program Partners

Students can work with their faculty mentor to get connected with one or more of the program's partners/collaborators to continue their journey in exploring the profession of dietetics:

• Boonshoft School of Medicine (Wright State University) Interprofessional Education
• Dayton Children's Hospital
• Dayton Community Nutrition Consortium
• East End Community Services
• Florida Gators Sport Nutrition Program (University of Florida)
• Grandview Foundation & Grandview Hospital Residency Program (Kettering Health Network)
• Homefull Farms
• Miami Valley Interprofessional Education
• Premier Health
• UD Dining Services
• UD Hanley Sustainability Institute
• UD Women's Volleyball

Program Accreditation

The UD Dietetics program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (120 S. Riverside Plaza, Suite 2190, Chicago, IL 60606-6695; 800-877-1600, ext. 5400). Reaccreditation was granted in 2022.

Take the Next Step

Explore admission options or schedule an academic visit to learn more about dietetics at UD.

Prior learning experience is considered. Please contact the program director for more information.

Sample Plan of Study

This is a sample plan of study for students starting at UD in the 2025-26 academic year. This is a recommended course sequence, but your schedule may vary depending on previously earned college credits, course availability, advisor recommendations, and your personal goals and interests. Please contact your holistic advisor if you have any questions.

Vision

Our dietetic students will thrive in an integrative and interdisciplinary academic environment where experiential-learning, professionalism, leadership, and evidence-based practice are at the forefront of student learning and development.

Mission

To prepare competent, collaborative and compassionate students for supervised practice leading to eligibility for the CDR credentialing exam and careers in nutrition and dietetics.

Goals and Objectives

Goal 1 - Program graduates will be distinctive graduates who are competent for supervised practice leading to eligibility for the CDR credentialing exam to become registered dietitian nutritionists. 

• At least 80% of students complete program requirements within three years (150% of planned program length). (RE 2.1.c.1.a)
• At least 80% of program graduates apply for admission to a supervised practice program prior to or within 12 months of graduation. (RE 2.1.c.1.b.1)
• Of program graduates who apply to a supervised practice program, at least 85 percent are admitted within 12 months of graduation. (RE 2.1.c.1.b.2)
• The program’s one-year pass rate (graduates who pass the registration exam within one year of first attempt) on the CDR credentialing exam for dietitian nutritionists is at least 80%. (RE 2.1.c.1.c)
• 85% of alumni returned surveys will identify they “strongly agree/agree” on a post  internship survey that they were prepared to successfully complete the internship.
• 85% of returned surveys from DI Directors will answer “strongly agree” or “agree” to the preparedness indicator.

Goal 2 - Program graduates will engage as collaborative and compassionate professionals

• 85% of returned surveys from DI Directors will answer “strongly agree” or “agree” to the collaborative indicator.
• 85% of returned surveys from DI Directors will answer “strongly agree” or “agree” to the compassionate indicator.

Program outcomes data are available upon request.

The process to become a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) includes:

• Completion of the bachelor's degree from an ACEND-accredited dietetics program (UD's undergraduate program is ACEND-accredited).
• Complete the internship and graduate application (DICAS portal) — faculty coaching and support provided during advising and in HSS 439 Professional Seminar
• Awarding of the verification statement upon the conferral of the degree from an ACEND-accredited undergraduate dietetics program.
• Successful completion of an ACEND-accredited supervised practice program and graduate degree.
  • In January 2024, completion of a graduate degree with the ACEND-accredited supervised practice program became a requirement to earn the verification statement to sit for the RDN credentialing exam. All students pursuing the RDN credential should plan to attend graduate school with an ACEND-accredited supervised practice after graduation.(UD's Partnered MDN Premier Health Dietetic Internship Program provides both the accredited supervised practice and graduate degree)
• Passing the RDN credentialing exam.
• Apply for Licensing (if applicable in your state)
  • The majority of states have enacted laws that regulate the practice of dietetics. State licensure and state certification are entirely separate and distinct from the registration or credentialing RDNs and NDTRs obtain from the CDR. According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, requirements to become a licensed dietitian nutritionist in most states are generally similar to those required to become a registered dietitian nutritionist. To be licensed as a dietitian nutritionist, all states require documentation of education or equivalent in addition to non-academic requirements such as supervised practice and satisfactory scores on credentialing exams. The National Dietetics Licensure Listings, provided by the Commission on Dietetics Registration, provides information to licensure requirements in your state. RDNs practicing in the State of Ohio are required to hold licensure through the State Medical Board of Ohio.

Additional Health and Sport Science Programs

• Health and Wellness: Community Health (B.S.S.W.)
• Health and Wellness: Health and Fitness (B.S.S.W.)
• Health Science: Exercise and Movement Science (B.S.H.S.)
• Health Science: Integrative Physiology (B.S.H.S.)
• Health Science: Occupational and Behavioral Studies (B.S.H.S.)
• Nursing (BSN)
• Sport Management (B.S.S.W.)
• Sport Communication (Undergraduate Certificate)
• Wellbeing Education (Undergraduate Certificate)
• Dietetics and Nutrition (M.D.N.)
• Advanced Dietetics and Nutrition Practice (Graduate Certificate)

Related Programs

• Health Communication (Minor)
• Social Work (Minor)
• Sociology (Minor)
• Ethics and Leadership (Undergraduate Certificate)
• Nonprofit and Community Leadership (Graduate Certificate)

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