TIER LINKS
Supervised practice is divided into five areas: Clinical Dietetics, Departmental Management,
Community Nutrition, Professional Development and the Entrepreneurial Nutrition Practice
(ENP) concentration or Community and Public Health Nutrition (CPHN) concentration.
The schedule is planned on a rotational basis. Students will participate in an orientation
and simulated practice experience prior to the clinical rotation.
Clinical dietetics includes over 400 hours of intensive training in a variety of medical
surgical specialties, nutrition support, critical care, outpatient and extended care
environments. Nine weeks of clinical training is completed at either Morristown Medical
Center or Overlook Medical Center. Additional hours will be completed at out-patient
and extended care facilities. These facilities are located throughout the state.
Departmental Management is completed in a healthcare facility.
During the Community Nutrition rotation, students experience a variety of settings
including child nutrition programs, community outreach and maternal health. An 80-hour
culminating practice experience, evidence analysis investigation project, participation
in the New Jersey Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Annual Meeting and/or other
professional meeting as well as training in Motivational Interviewing and professional
use of social media are part of the Professional Development Rotation.
The ENP Concentration includes Nutrition Education and Counseling at the University’s
Center for Nutrition, on other campuses and/or in corporate wellness or employee wellness
settings. The CPHN Concentration is completed in 3 units, Federal Food and Nutrition
Programs (through Child Nutrition Programs), Public Health Nutrition Education and
Programming (through SNAP Ed) and with a unit, Farm to Fork completed at a variety
of settings.
Schedule and Practice Sites
During the first year, students take coursework on-line and do not need to relocate.
The ENP and CPHN concentration complete the program over two academic years with one
course in the summer between these years. During Supervised Practice, the practice
hours are completed 32-40 hours a week in a rotational basis. Supervised practice
will be scheduled on a rotational basis.
Nine weeks of clinical training are completed at one of two medical centers as outlined
above. Clinical faculty preceptors employed by the University are responsible for
providing and overseeing on-site at Morristown Medical Center or Overlook Medical
Center. This is supplemented with simulated work on campus using the simulation labs
and case studies.
Each student will complete a clinical unit in extended care at either a long-term
care center, rehabilitation center, psychiatric or developmental center. Students
will also complete a clinical experience in an outpatient setting, such as diabetes,
dialysis clinic. These sites are primarily located in northern and central New Jersey.
Every effort is made to place students within a reasonable commute to the student’s
residence, except for the nine clinical weeks as described above.
For Community Nutrition, non-profit agencies and corporations provide additional practice
opportunities. Experiences will be supervised by Saint Elizabeth University faculty,
Registered Dietitian/Nutritionists and other qualified food and nutrition or health
professionals employed by the sites.
The faculty/staff of the University are responsible for all contractual and insurance
arrangements and placements, except for Community Nutrition Education unit. Students
are responsible for identifying a community practice site and assisting faculty/staff
with the contractual agreement and complete these during FN677 Program Design and
Management in Community Nutrition. However, if a student is unable to locate their
own site, faculty will assign one to them. Some practice hours for the CPHN concentration
are completed during FN626 Intro to Public Health (nutrition). Students are responsible
for their own travel and communicating with sites for workplace details (time/ place
to report, ID badge needs, etc.).
A final elective experience is completed at a site of the interns choosing. Other
professional and community activities are included at various locations and on campus.
The SEU Combined MS/DI is not accredited to provide supervised practice in a distance
format.
Most of the hours are completed during a typical weekday, but weekend hours are common
in the community rotations. Students receive prior notice to those hours.