I’m a dietetic intern!

The day has finally arrived! It’s MATCH DAY. Which means, I can talk ALL I WANT about internships because now I’m matched!

For those of you who don’t know, here’s a brief run down of becoming a Registered Dietitian.

For those that take the “normal” route (like myself), you go to college and get a 4 year degree. In college, you go through a structure of classes called your DPD program and then you apply for your Dietetic Internship after finishing. There’s another route where you do college and the internship together, but that’s much less common.

The internship is 1200 supervised practice hours and is required to be eligible to sit for the National board exam for RDs. So therefore, if you don’t get into an internship, you’ll never become a dietitian.

The application process to internships is like college apps on steroids. It’s a centralized application that’s super long, plus you get recommendations and write personal statements. You also may have to fill out supplemental applications and do interviews for each program, based on the program requirements. They are all different, and all have different quirks – so you really have to do your research.  There are roughly 275 programs in the US where you can apply and the national acceptance rate is roughly 50%.

I applied to four programs, two of which were very popular and had over 100 applications each for 10 and 12 spots, respectively. The other two programs where I applied had roughly 65-75 applications and admit 8 students each. So it’s HIGHLY competitive and very nerve wracking.

Sub March for April and it’s RD Match Day!

The worst part of the entire process is most likely the Matching Process. It’s computer matched, meaning I rank my programs and the programs rank their applicants. Then a computer matches us together and wherever I am matched, I HAVE to go. No questions asked. So it’s not only a question of where you apply, but the game of getting matched too based on the science of the rankings. It’s such a mind screw.

So where did I apply? These are in alphabetical order. I don’t plan to ever release my rankings, so sorry!

1. Baptist Health System, San Antonio TX

2. Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas TX

3. University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco CA

4. West Virginia University Hospital, Morgantown WV

And where was I matched? I found out tonight:

AHHHHHHHHHH. I’m beyond words excited! I have two friends from my school who were matched to Baylor too, so it’s basically the perfect outcome. I’m not moving and I already know two of the other 11 interns in my program!

For reference too, last year Baylor had 135 applications and admitted 10 students. So I feel VERY blessed to have been matched to such an amazing program!

I’ll be back with TONS more information about the internships, now that I can actually talk about it. Can’t wait to share more!